AUSTIN, Texas - Media conglomerate IAC/Interactive Corp. has reached an agreement with online video and television distribution service Brightcove Inc. that will allow syndication of video at IAC's 60-plus Web properties including Ask.com, Match.com, LendingTree and the Home Shopping Network. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Brightcove, which was founded by longtime Internet entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire in 2004 and has been partially held by IAC since December 2006, will begin syndicating video with integrated advertising into IAC's Citysearch, Ticketmaster and news parody site 23/6, expanding into additional IAC Web properties at a later date, the companies said in a statement released today. 23/6 is co-owned by The Huffington Post.

Barry Diller Sees Expanded Reach

IAC chief executive Barry Diller, who in November split the company into five separate entities, sees the agreement with Brightcove as an expansion of his company's reach that will lead to increased revenue. "By making this platform available across IAC we can continue to deepen engagement with our online audiences, expand the reach of our brands, and open powerful new revenue streams through online video advertising across our sites," billionaire Diller said today in a statement. The agreement will allow any of IAC's brands to publish video content from Brightcove and to manage its syndication and the integration of advertising, and represents a deepening relationship between the two companies.

Others backers in privately-held Brightcove, which offers an on-demand platform for the creation, management, publication and distribution of Web video, include AllianceBernstein L.P. and Hearst Corp. IAC businesses will be able to "manage syndication and viral distribution, integrate advertising, and launch independent or integrated consumer media campaigns," the companies said in a statement. Diller today touted the agreements effect on video distribution among IAC's companies. "Brightcove is in tune with the new content consumers want and has been able to recognize the need for effective video distribution in a world where computer screens are replacing television screens," Diller said.

Ask.com Parent IAC Reaches Video Agreement with Brightcove

With October 2007 figures from Web traffic analysis firm comScore placing IAC's network of online properties as the world's eighth largest, today's agreement has the potential to affect the all of its 171 million unique monthly users. Allaire, who was formerly Macromedia Inc.'s chief technical officer and is now Chairman and CEO of Brightcove, looks forward to helping the IAC group of properties provide online video and television content. "IAC is an extremely innovative and dynamic media conglomerate with some of the most recognizable brands on the Web today," Allaire said. "We are extremely excited to have been chosen to help IAC's businesses transform their online properties into rich Internet TV destinations," he said. Brightcove has partnered with several large news and entertainment businesses itself, including:

	A&E Television Networks
	CBS Corporation
	Dow Jones and Company, Inc.
	Fox Entertainment Group
	Discovery Communications, Inc.
	MTV Networks
	The New York Times Company
	Warner Music Group
	National Geographic
	Sony BMG Music Entertainment
	Washington Post / Newsweek Interactive

Part of Changes at Both Companies

Whether the agreement announced today can bring the type of video programming enhancements that will lead to increased monetization for both companies remains to be seen, however by providing multiple advertising formats and a large selection of video content, they appear ready to make a strong push toward doing so.

Related Links:

• Reuters article
• CNN / Money.com / PR Newswire statement
• Associated Press / Motley Fool article
• ClickZ Network article
• Broadcasting and Cable article
• SearchEngineWorld article on IAC split
• SearchEngineWorld article on IAC's Ask.com China move
• WebmasterWorld's Ask.com - Teoma discussion forum