• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 11, 2011

Broadening the focus of its "TV Everywhere" initiatives, Fox Digital Media has tapped video platform Kaltura to serve as the foundation of its new video asset management platform.

Per the deal, nearly every property overseen by parent Fox Networks Group -- including Fox Broadcasting Company and Fox Sports -- is expected to make use of the platform.

Kaltura and Fox Digital Media plan to co-develop and customize a proprietary system that serves the collective and individual needs of FNG's digital properties, which also include cable networks SPEED, FX, Fuel TV, and Big Ten Network.

The new move represents a unique approach to online video, according to Jon Cody, senior vice president, digital media at Fox Networks Group.

"Typically, companies will either build their own video system from scratch or go to a relatively inflexible, out-of-the box video system," Cody says. "We are leveraging an open-source core and innovation from thousands of developers to that core, but are customizing the solution to our current and future broadband video distribution needs."

Specifically, the platform will address the backend workflow needs of FNG's online video, including ingestion, transcoding, metadata collection, asset management, distribution, delivery, publishing, authentication, monetization and analytics.

Videos from the system will be distributed to FNG's owned-and-operated digital Web sites and applications, enabling both player-based and file-based syndication to online and mobile publishers, including Hulu, MSN, Dish Online and other FNG partners.

According to Cody, FNG conducted an extensive search for the right platform on which to build its broadband video system, and Kaltura's open-source offering stood out for its ability to provide "modularity, flexibility, freedom and control."