Advanced Television

Red Bee Media plays red for online video

June 16, 2011

By Colin Mann

Broadcast services company Red Bee Media, responsible for managing more than 90 per cent of broadcaster video on demand content consumed in the UK, has launched RedPlayer, which it claims is the first ‘media grade’, end-to-end, next-generation online video platform.

RedPlayer allows broadcasters and content owners in the UK and internationally to deliver and monetise high quality video to multiple devices, including iPhone, iPad and Playstation, in a secure and scalable manner.

Red Bee Media, which manages the content for the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, Channel 4’s 4OD, Channel Five’s Demand Five and the Virgin Media Player, has developed RedPlayer to introduce to market an enhanced online video platform, and to become an end-to-end provider of video management and distribution.

The company says that RedPlayer has been created in response to a growing demand for broadcast quality online video platforms that offer a secure and quality player service that can be monetised – a requirement fuelled by the advent of connected TV and growth in consumption of video across multiple devices.

Red Bee Media also suggests the platform enables businesses to profit from the growing online video market by offering flexible options for multiple purchase types including subscription, download to own, rental and capped or uncapped library access, using Cisco Videoscape Media technology.

These options sit alongside dynamic and targeted advertising capabilities. Red Bee Media has partnered with industry leading businesses Cisco, 247 Real Media and Akamai to create the ‘media grade’ end-to-end service.

“The online video market has rapidly evolved, driven by consumer demand for higher quality and a greater variety of content made available across multiple platforms,” noted Bill Patrizio, CEO of Red Bee Media. “As a result, businesses need to deliver a better experience with intuitive search and recommendation tools through a better user interface. With critical mass has come the first real opportunity to profit from video online which has heralded flexible and simple payment models delivered by RedPlayer,” he said.

He said the company was in “a strong position to lead the new ‘media grade’ era”. “Online video is to become a standard component of our clients’ channel mix. The scope of RedPlayer is refined to enable our clients to make strategic decisions – on availability, monetisation, content protection, dynamic advertising and the multi-platform user experience,” he declared.

Steve Plunkett, Director of Technology and Innovation at Red Bee Media, said that slow, unreliable video platforms were no longer good enough, especially when customers were paying for content. “RedPlayer has been forged as a result of this new dawn, presenting an unprecedented opportunity to all businesses with quality content,” he claimed.

Categories: Articles, OTT, OTT, Portable Media, Video