Partner websites and Five's own online properties, such as Five.tv and FiveFWD, the cars and gadgets portal for young males, will be the first websites to benefit from the deal. The syndicated player initiative will be widely available later this year to third-party websites and to consumers who will be able to add embeddable video content to their own favourite places on the Web.
"Five's syndicated player initiative significantly extends the reach of our online video programming in a way that is secure, high-quality, and generates additional advertising revenue," said Paul Thornton-Jones, Five's digital controller. "With Brightcove, Five has been able to launch the ambitious catch-up online video offering in a very short amount of time, despite the complex distribution and monetization requirements."
The syndicated player initiative employs the full range of capabilities provided by the Brightcove online video platform including deep customization of player design and functionality, as well as integration with a broad set of advertising, content management and geo-location technologies. With the average length of video content reaching 45 minutes, Five will leverage multiple cue-point targeting to place in-stream advertising in long-form online video programming. Capable of reaching more than 98 percent of Internet users, the syndicated player initiative is built on the industry-standard Flash® format, which is the number one platform for video on the Web.
"Five continues to break new ground with innovative online video strategies," said Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove chairman and chief executive officer. "We are very happy Five has chosen to build its syndicated player and audience network on the Brightcove platform, which represents an important industry first in the UK market."
The syndicated player is the latest online video initiative to launch as part of a company-wide agreement that enables Five to use Brightcove to publish and distribute ad-supported video content across its online properties, including Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky, Milkshake!, and Australian soap opera, Neighbours.