Brightcove's Ad-Supported Video Comes to TV Through Deal with Vudu

Customers of online video platform Brightcovewill have the ability to distribute their ad-supported films to residential television sets and home theaters through a new partnership with on-demand movie and TV show provider Vudu.

Vudu, which sells set-top boxes through which customers can download movies and TV shows, is the first company to support Brightcove content. Multiple advertising platforms will be supported, meaning Brightcove customers can “maintain their existing online video monetization strategy and infrastructure,” according to a statement announcing the deal.

The first feature being made available, found in the “Vudu Labs” section, will be MyPlay, an application offering Sony Music videos through Sony Music’s MyPlay Video Network affiliate program. “This is really a way that Brightcove customers, most of the major media companies, now have this new distribution avenue,” said Erika Shaffer, a spokeswoman for both Vudu and Brightcove. “It’s a way for them to extend the advertising to a whole new platform and it’s showing that there’s a role for Web content that’s ad-supported to be on the TV.”

Vudu’s Rich Internet Applications platform allows Vudu “to support dynamic ad logic and live ad calls to content owners”existing advertising platforms,” noted the companies. The content owners retain control over their ad inventory.

Vudu Director of Content Acquisition Rob Holmes said the deal “represents a proof of concept” for Vudu. “We fundamentally believe that online video does not mean PC only,” Holmes said in an e-mail. “Today’s announcement is one of the first implementations to successfully bring online video (and online advertising dollars) to the dominant source of entertainment in the home — the TV.”

Chris Johnston, director of technology partnership at Brightcove, conceded in the announcement statement that expanding online video distribution “beyond Web sites to the living room television has been challenging.” He asserted partnership with Vudu is “a significant step forward for media businesses that want to centrally manage distribution and monetization across the Web while also taking advantage of the high-quality TV experience Vudu enables.”