--Initiatives Target International and North American Audiences Respectively
Comcast-owned white-label video management company, thePlatform (note: the company recently announced a major expansion of its partner program--see the article published on itvt.com, September 9th), will announce today that it has been tapped by the Big Ten Network, a joint venture between Fox Cable Networks and subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference, to manage and publish its online video offerings. According to the companies, their deal will see thePlatform providing centralized backend management support for two major video initiatives, one of which is aimed at serving audiences outside the US and Canada, and the other aimed at serving domestic audiences.
The Big Ten Network bills itself as the first nationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the US. Its new video initiative for international audiences will see it using thePlatform's Media Publishing System to manage an international package of streaming programming dubbed the "Big Ten Ticket." It says that the package, which will be located on its own dedicated Web site (www.bigtenticket.com), will make all its televised Big Ten Conference football and men's basketball games available live and on-demand to viewers living outside the US, Canada and the Caribbean. The Big Ten Network plans to televise between 35 and 30 football games and 105 regular-season men's basketball games, as well as three Big Ten Tournament games, in 2009-10. "We are expanding our online video efforts to serve the fans of the Big Ten Network worldwide," Michael Calderon, the Big Ten Network's director of new media, said in a prepared statement. "thePlatform has a proven history of managing large and complex video offerings for many leading content companies, and we believe their system gives us the flexibility, scalability, and ability to monetize video in the way that we need."
The Big Ten Network's new video initiative for North American audiences, meanwhile, will see it using thePlatform's MPS to support Webcasting of a range of sports video targeted at fans of the University of Illinois, Indiana University, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin. According to a spokesperson for thePlatform, the Big Ten Network deal will see it supporting streaming of at least 200 live events on BigTenNetwork.com, including women's basketball, women's volleyball, men's exhibition basketball and a limited number of non-conference games, as well as wrestling, men's ice hockey, baseball and softball, during the current academic year (note: the Big Ten Network plans to add coverage of more sports in the future). Games will be priced at $2.99 each.
thePlatform also powers broadband video sports coverage for CBSCollegeSports.com, the Associated Press, Fancast.com and the Web portals of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Cablevision, and Canada's theScore.com.
