ThePlatform, the Comcast-owned online video publishing company, is releasing an enhanced video player service that defaults to the HTML5 Web standard for video playback instead of Adobe Systems’ Flash, but will switch to Flash if needed.
HTML5 will provide faster load times for video playback and lower development costs by providing a way to ensure their videos render well across a range of devices, according to thePlatform. The vendor’s mpx publishing system can automatically associate all the metadata and business policies for each video across both HTML5 and Flash players, without requiring duplicate back-end systems.
“We’ve always supported HTML5, but the technology has matured over the past 18 months, and it’s now ready for primetime,” thePlatform senior vice president of sales and marketing Marty Roberts said. “HTML5 has become the lead technology that we recommend to our customers for publishing video across devices, and it has replaced Flash as the default setting in our mpx Player Service.”
For the month of December 2012, thePlatform analyzed video views managed through its mpx publishing system across thousands of specific device “profiles” (unique combinations of device models, operating systems and browsers). Besides computers, iPads accounted for the most video views in December, followed by iPhones, Android smartphones and tablets.
ThePlatform said the Player Service automatically updates with iOS, Android and Windows 8 releases. The players support video-on-demand and live ad insertion through advertising partners such as FreeWheel, Adobe Auditude and Google’s DoubleClick. In addition, clients can monitor the quality of their players with real-time and historical reporting tools -- as well as access usage and audience engagement data -- through partners including Conviva, Google Analytics, Omniture, comScore and Nielsen.
ThePlatform’s customers include A+E Networks, Cablevision Systems, Comcast, Cox Communications, Liberty Global, Rogers, Time Warner Cable and USA Network.
