Unfiltered

The market for online video content is large and complex, but according to Chris Gardner, chief marketing officer of ExtendMedia, leadership is still up for grabs. Traditional incumbents are only one in a growing list of potential candidates, which also includes the broadcast networks, online-only hosting sites like Hulu, IPTV providers, Apple, Microsoft, Internet service providers and a variety of consumer electronics manufacturers.

“Video going forward is going to be about seamless access across multiple screens,” Gardner said. “Over-the-top video 1.0 was really about content providers putting up streaming sites for existing content. We think 2.0 is all about multi-screen, multi-business models and this new list of players who are going to take the leap to distributors.”

To address the market’s first movers, the company today introduced an update to its multi-screen video monetization platform, OpenCase. Version 3.5 of the platform-neutral software includes support for both paid and ad-supported business models and streamed or downloaded content to any device. OpenCase 3.5 also integrates with telcos’ legacy infrastructure, including APIs and an SDK to accommodate their billing and authentication engines for hybrid TV.

Gardner said ExtendMedia is the only provider who offers its service as either a hosted platform or one that is installed on site. It is also the only provider who can support both Microsoft Silverlight, dominate in digital-rights management, and Adobe Flash, dominant in ad-supported streaming formats, equally in one platform, he said.

From its customers, which include AT&T and Bell Canada, Gardner said ExtendMedia has realized the need for multiple business models that include a mix of ad-supported content, streaming or download to own, pay-per-view and pre- and post-roll ads. ExtendMedia supports all of these, and rather than see one emerge as the de facto standard, Gardner expects them all to work alongside each other, giving consumers more choice.

“The economics begin to work when you support all those,” Gardner said. “Three of the most successful efforts in OTT video distributors have been Hulu, which is streaming ad-supported, Apple, which is entirely download to own and Netflix, which is rent or own through subscriptions. They have nothing in common from a business model perspective, but all three have great legs and very robust content libraries. There is room for all these business models, and successful services will give customers the choice of which makes the most sense for them.”

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