We're told by both ThePlatform and by the WSJ that the Comcast-owned unit has signed a deal to manage and deliver Web video for Time Warner Cable's (TWC) Road Runner Web portal.
This deal is a reminder that while Comcast (CMCSA) may not make any money on its own video portal Fancast for a very long time, it will make money from other cable operators hoping to create their own video portals. ThePlatform now delivers video for four of the top five cable operators: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision (CVC) and Cox Enterprises.
It's also a reminder that with the separation from TWX, Time Warner Cable can continue building out Road Runner without dictums that it cooperate on some level with AOL. (Though, from the looks of Road Runner these days, one has to wonder if TWC would be better off focusing on cable TV.)
ThePlatform, which also manages video for the NBC U-News Corp. joint venture Hulu.com, served 270 million videos in May. And unlike most players in Web video, ThePlatform got paid for each one: a storage fee and then a usage fee each time a video gets played. Sounds like a good business, or at least the most likely of Comcast's $500 million in Internet acquisitions to turn a profit anytime soon.
See Also: Comcast: Dump Fancast, Buy Netflix
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Comcast Invests In Web Video Company Designed To Distrupt It
