Comcast Grabs thePlatform
Red Herring, June 29, 2006
U.S. cable giant acquires the company that helps publish streaming video.
Comcast confirmed Wednesday it has acquired thePlatform for an undisclosed sum, the latest deal involving Internet video.
Seattle-based thePlatform allows customers to distribute digital media online. Services include advertising, transaction management, aggregation, and syndication. Customers pay for application licenses as well as usage.
Analyst David Card of JupiterResearch questioned Philadelphia-based Comcast’s strategy in tying up with the startup. “I don’t usually think of Comcast as a services company,” he said. “I think of them as a company that sells products and services to consumers rather than businesses.”
The cable giant wants to focus on building its online products for both “business-to-consumer and business-to-business” areas, said Sam Schwartz, executive vice president of Comcast Interactive Media, formed late last year.
Online video deals are increasing, but most of them tend toward content such as Guba’s arrangement with Warner Bros. announced Monday and YouTube’s NBC channel announced Tuesday.
A purchase on the level of thePlatform was last seen in March, when VeriSign picked up peer-to-peer distributor Kontiki. thePlatform’s competitors include Brightcove, Entriq, and ExtendMedia.
From Customer to Owner
Mr. Schwartz and Ian Blaine, chief executive of thePlatform, said the two companies were a good fit.
“We weren’t for sale,” said Mr. Blaine, who will report to Mr. Schwartz.
“For us, timing is less relevant than having found the perfect partner.”
Comcast had previously been a customer of thePlatform, using it to power The Fan, a streaming video portion of its portal available to subscribers. The Fan delivers nearly 2 million video streams per day, according to thePlatform.
ThePlatform, which has about 70 employees, will be run as a distinct business after the acquisition, maintaining its management team and customers, which include Microsoft and Verizon Wireless.
The tie-in with Comcast could offer opportunities for online ad insertion, an area both companies have explored.
Quick Exit
thePlatform had raised $23 million in three rounds from investors including Generation Partners and Spark Capital.
Spark, a new venture firm focused on digital media, made one of its first investments in thePlatform in December, after being founded less than a year ago.
“It was a very intense half a year,” said Santo Politi, a general partner at Spark Capital and member of thePlatform’s board. “It was probably a little bit early for us to sell the company. but it was a great investment.”
Boston-based Spark now has five companies remaining in its portfolio, including Veoh Networks and KickApps.
In another digital video deal Wednesday, online advertiser DoubleClick said it had acquired Klipmart, an online video advertising firm, for an undisclosed sum.
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