Faced with a rapidly-dropping number of subscribers, cable companies are starting to realize they need to embrace rather than fight the Web to succeed in this new digital age. And Brightcove wants to help them, providing the platform which could see content cropping up on multiple sites on the Web.

Cable – Who Needs It?

The cable companies really aren’t keen on the Internet or online video. It’s a sector they don’t control, and currently don’t even have a foothold in.

But the Web is providing a viable alternative to expensive cable subscriptions for many people. Who needs to see a huge fee leave their bank account every month when the likes of Hulu provide content for free (at least for now). Especially with more TVs and devices being Internet-enabled, meaning Web video is moving from computers to the living room.

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Brightcove is an Internet TV platform and network which allows both established media companies and singular individuals to produce and publish video online and then make ad revenue from the resulting content.

It is now in the process of changing its service from the ground up, with Brightcove 3, a completely rebuilt service now going in to private beta before a full release in the autumn.

By way of sending out a message to all their many users, Brightcove has announced that it is soon going to be closing the YouTube-style consumer video community, which currently resides at the Brightcove.TV domain.

As of December 17, 2007, users of the video service and community will no longer be able to upload videos, as the website will be refocused to provide a central destination for the professional distribution and promotion of the company’s network of media partners.

Brightcove has always seemed more focused on developing methods of distributing and monetizing videos, providing a platform for several high-profile clients, so what exactly took this team so long to realize that running a YouTube competitor was not the way to go?

Yesterday, Google YouTube officially debuted its new in-video ad delivery system.

After weeks of experimentation, the first embedded video advertisements went live.

Trawling my selection of news feeds this morning, I came across several rather amusing bits on a spat (well, maybe not a spat, but I’ll put the word to use here anyhow) being had between VideoEgg and YouTube.

The former is more or less accusing the latter of stealing its overlaid-ad thunder. 

The latter’s response, well, actually there’s been no response, from what I gather. 

Fox Entertainment Group has announced a partnership with Brightcove to launch internet video channels of all Fox broadcast and cable content, including FX Network, Speed and Fox Broadcasting.

This deal is interesting because it allows syndication of Fox content throughout the internet using embedded video. Fox will handle advertising for all content displayed in the Brightcove player. Fox Entertainment Group’s content will extend beyond just Fox’s websites.

Brightcove has existing agreements with major players like CBS, MTV Networks, and Discovery, although none have been exclusive. This new deal is for Fox’s exclusive online partnership. You won’t be seeing Fox content on YouTube anytime soon.

Content is king for internet video. This is a major deal for Brightcove, which is aiming to ink similar exclusive partnerships with other major networks and companies.

CBS has decided to really take the bull by the horns and bring a lot of its content onto the internet including full TV shows (think CSI, Survivor and Late Show with David Letterman) as well as numerous sporting events including championship boxing.

Its new online TV service is called “Interactive Audience Network” and is really giving the finger to YouTube.

Who needs YouTube

This is one of the biggest pushes to bring traditional TV content online we’ve seen to date.

CBS has agreed distribution deals for all this TV content with a number of online platforms, but guess what, no YouTube.

A publisher using the Brightcove online distribution system has created a neat application using the Brightcove APIs. BlennyLips.com, a scuba diving site, is using the application to present relevant text links with the video content as it plays.

The links appear in time with the creatures appearing on screen and link to further information on the animal. The video also features a Google Map showing the location of the dive site.