thePlatform, the white label video services company owned by Comcast, has announced it is has new customer in 4Kids.TV.
Seems like the Seattle-based company has made something of specialty in streaming online video content for kids. The company says that 8 percent of its streams is for youth-oriented sites.
Last month at the Beet.TV Online Video Roundtable, I caught up with Marty Roberts who heads marketing for thePlatform.
He explains the emerging needs of his company's customers and how the thePlatform is starting to serve mid market customers.
— Andy Plesser, Executive Producer
Here is an automated, unedited transcript of our interview:
It was seen a couple different things going on their customer base. I'm
obviously the first one is how — on my audience and so in that case
really about adopting more viral. And really picking picking a page out
of the user generated content space in terms of allowing our customers
to take their content. And take a lot easier to embed that their own
blogs in their FaceBook page in their MySpace page whatever the case
might be — That's having an enormous effect in terms of allowing their
customers to — their audience.
The second thing we're seeing from our
customers is a real hard — focus on. — reducing costs so anyway that
they can come in and take costs out of their overall broadband video
solution. And include — and cost includes advertising costs. It
includes the media management costs any way to reduce those costs —
and make — help your business and obviously when you have a softening
ad market.
I'm reducing this cost becomes it's actually important for
our customers. The third thing we're hearing a lot about is how to
remove more content online so we were with a lot of the cable
companies. Like kept Comcast Time Warner. And others. As — a lot of
the cable networks and so finding a way for those companies to move
their content online that is. In line with the — distribution deals in
the Kerry keels they have those relationships where cable — companies
pay cable networks for that content.
The demands they're by consumers
and now we actually want to take that content and I'm moving online as
well. In a way that some collaborative and and beneficial for all
parties involved. Farmers traditionally focus at the very high end of
the market so major media companies. On broadcast networks. Major video
portals that are out there. But what we're finding is that actually I'm
coming down market a bit is a real benefit more customers. So those
customers and we need to find the mid market is somewhere between
500010.
Million video views a month. Kind of our mid market customers
for those customers. That are being successful we find that — video
sites that have — solid niche are doing well out there so when they
have an audience. If the customer my birth TV debut hunting and fishing
show us and the candidate they have ads from Ford trucks and the
balance and you know they've really found an audience. It's like twelve
guys in Tennessee and they're great customer who worked with.
I — so
those types of companies that have a defined audience. And did set —
content professionally produced content for that audience. They're
doing really really wound. I think he is starting to see more
enterprises more educational companies adult video. But typically for
the platform. You know unless you're doing a lot of video. And the
number of enterprises that that works for is actually relatively loud
cell. I think it's an opportunity for a lot of companies in the
marketplace but it's it's not something that's actually going to move
the dial a lot in terms of overall video consumption that's out there.
