thePlatform Releases MPX

Improved video management system designed to handle more devices, content

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/12/2010 7:30:13 PM

Online video publishing company thePlatform has taken its mpx video management system out of beta testing and formally released it. The move is notable mpx will make it easier to deliver more content to more devices and because thePlatform, which is an independent subsidiary of Comcast, plays a key role in the TV Everywhere initiatives of a number of major MSOs.

Currently thePlatform works with such providers as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox and Rogers, that are already making tens of thousands of titles of TV programs available online to multichannel subscribers. The newly released mpx platform will make it easier for those operators to deliver that content to other devices like smart phones and the iPad.

"The biggest development is that we will make it much easier to deliver content to more devices," explains thePlatform CEO Ian Blaine in an interview. "The promise of TV Everywhere is the everywhere part, which means getting content to more devices. That hasn't been as easy as it should be because different devices require different formats and different media protection schemes. This new release addresses that complexity and makes it simple for content owners and distributors to deliver content to more places."

Besides make it easier to deliver content to both online and mobile devices, the new platform will enable clients to deliver program to the traditional TV VOD platform, Blaine notes. "It positions us as a single course to push content to use about anywhere," he says.

The company began working on mpx in 2007, when they were on track to manage about one billion video views with their old platform mps. Realizing that they would eventually be handling more content than mps could easily accommodate, they began developing a new platform, which they began beta testing in February of 2010. An updated version was launched in August and what the company is called the "gold release" occurred on October 12.

Currently, thePlatform is handling "several billion" media requests a year and that some of the operators involved in TV Everywhere are offering "tens of thousands of titles" to their subscribers online, Blaine says. He expects the number of titles in some of those TV Everywhere offerings to eventually hit "six figures" and that usage will also climb as users can access content on more devices.

Being able to hand much large amounts of video, also will make it easier to handle more HD video and larger file sizes, Blaine adds.

The new platform features a number of tools to improve the management of content so that it can be better tracked and monetized, Blaine stressed. While mpx can handle all existing business models-from authentication in the TV Everywhere platforms, to pay per view and pure advertising-Blaine notes that it will help their clients develop their advertising revenues.

"It will allow them to more effectively monetize their advertising and as they do that we will start to see more of a model [for TV Everywhere] that looks like traditional cable television where you have certainly making money from subscriber fees but also from advertising," he noted.