thePlatform Serves as Central Video Logistics System for Comcast's Next-Generation TV Initiative

SEATTLE, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- thePlatform, the leading white-label video publishing company and independent subsidiary of Comcast, today confirmed that its cloud-based video publishing system, mpx, serves as the central management hub for Comcast's next-generation Xfinity TV service.

Now in a market trial in Augusta, GA, the Xfinity TV service offers a new personalized user experience on the television, making it easier to navigate, search and select from tens of thousands of choices. thePlatform worked closely with teams across Comcast to design a system that provides greater flexibility and versatility for managing live TV or video-on-demand. This deployment also showcases the ability of mpx to deliver pay-TV services on a vast scale with enterprise-grade reliability for one of the largest TV service providers in North America.

"TV services have historically been defined by infrastructure equipment, but that's changing," said Ian Blaine, CEO of thePlatform and senior vice president in Comcast Converged Products. "Moving forward, cloud computing will play a defining role in enabling TV service providers to innovate and differentiate. We're very proud to support this initiative with Comcast, and it's a testament to the robustness and scalability of our capabilities."

"Comcast is leveraging the best aspects of web-based video architecture to reshape the television experience itself," said Sam Schwartz, president of Comcast Converged Products. "We acquired thePlatform five years ago in order to bring some of the brightest minds in video systems design and management into our senior planning teams. thePlatform has been instrumental in our efforts to date and is playing a strategic role in the development of our next-generation services."

TV programming networks and content providers delivering video to Comcast customers who subscribe to the next-generation Xfinity TV service utilize thePlatform's mpx system to prepare and manage that video using its intuitive web-based console. mpx manages video ingest and aggregation from multiple sources. It also provides the technical foundation for metadata aggregation, normalization, and search capabilities for live-linear channels and video on demand.

Additional information about thePlatform can be found at www.thePlatform.com.  

About thePlatform

thePlatform™ is the leading white-label video management and publishing company. Media companies rely on thePlatform as their open, central hub for managing, monetizing, and syndicating billions of professionally produced video views annually. The company's services provide unmatched versatility for designing and supporting video businesses on PCs, mobile, and TV. Customers include: Cablevision, Canwest, CBC, Comcast, Corus Entertainment, Cox Communications, ExerciseTV, HIT Entertainment, NBC Local Media, Outdoor Channel, PBS, PBS KIDS Sprout, Rogers, Sony BMG, Starz Play, Time Warner Cable, Travel Channel Media, truTV and numerous others. With a 10-year history of service, thePlatform is an independent subsidiary of Comcast based in Seattle, Wash. For more information: www.thePlatform.com.

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