--Company Acquires Assets of Social Media Company, Chirp Interactive
Comcast-owned white-label broadband video publishing company,
thePlatform, has been tapped by Time Warner Cable, the second-largest
cable operator in the US, to provide the central backend video
management system for its Road Runner broadband Web portal (note:
thePlatform's system is also used by Cablevision and Cox, and, of
course, by Comcast itself). Under the terms of the companies' deal,
thePlatform will aggregate and publish video content and associated
advertising for the portal, and Time Warner Cable will have access to
thePlatform's media player tools, in order to create video channels and
"playback experiences" for the site's users. The Road Runner portal
currently offers a range of video content from such programmers as
CNN, HBO, Music Choice and Showtime. "Part of our core mission is
to provide robust and compelling video experiences for consumers,
whether in front of their TV's or PC's," Time Warner Cable chief
strategy officer, Peter Stern, said in a prepared statement. "As online
video continues to grow in popularity on Road Runner, we need an
efficient and proven way to continue meeting the growing demand.
We're working with thePlatform because of their versatility and ability
to create solutions uniquely tailored to our needs." Added thePlatform's
Ian Blaine: "By removing much of the 'behind-the-scenes' technical
complexity, we will enable [Time Warner Cable] to focus their time on
providing new and enhanced viewing experiences for consumers."
In other thePlatform news:
- The company has acquired the assets of Chirp Interactive, a San
Francisco-based provider of social media applications. As part of the
deal, a number of former Chirp employees who were responsible for
developing the company's technologies have joined thePlatform. In
addition, the Platform says that it is actively investigating ways to
attract technical talent from Silicon Valley (just south of San
Francisco), including opening a branch office. Chirp previously
launched a number of Internet applications that combined social
networking with media consumption capabilities. thePlatform says that
it does not intend to continue Chirp's services going forward: instead, it
plans to use the company's technologies and its core product
development team to build new community and content-discovery
features into its media publishing system. "Chirp's team has proven
expertise in designing rich media applications that integrate with social
networking sites, and we look forward to leveraging their team's talent
to enhance online video services for our customers," thePlatform
co-founder and CEO, Ian Blaine, said in a prepared statement. "As the
market for online video continues to grow, we're also pleased to begin a
more concerted effort in the Bay Area to draw upon the region's
immense technical talent."
- The company says that its client base provided a combined total of
over 270 million video views to consumers in May (which would
translate into 3 billion views annually), according to figures from
comScore Video Metrix. thePlatform's clients include the BBC,
College Sports TV, CNBC, Comcast, Gannett/USA Today,
Fancast.com, Helio, HIT Entertainment, Hearst, PBS, Sony BMG and
Verizon Wireless.
