• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 10, 2009

A slew of media companies partnered with thePlatform, a white-label video publishing subsidiary of Comcast, and its partner program. In the key area of advertising and monetization, new additions include Auditable, BrightRoll, EyeWonder, Google AdSense, and YuMe.

While thePlatform faces many rivals -- including Brightcove, Veeple, PermissionTV, and Vimeo -- it biggest competition comes from the in-house platforms that publishers decide to build themselves. Working in thePlatform's favor, therefore, is the increasingly complex syndication landscape, according to Marty Roberts, vice president of marketing for thePlatform.

"Media companies want the flexibility to integrate and test new technologies," said Roberts. "Our role is to make online video publishing a seamless process."

Founded in 2000, thePlatform services many top video syndicators, including the BBC, CNBC, PBS and Gannett (including USA Today).

Late last year, The Associated Press selected thePlatform to serve as its central back-end management system for publishing video across some 2,000 affiliate and syndication partner sites. The move was expected to help network affiliates better showcase their news video as well as to offer higher video quality.

About 80 companies now participate in thePlatform Framework, which spans the world of online video, including ad campaign management systems, ad sales networks, analytics and reporting, content delivery networks, content protection, media formats, transcoding engines, payment processors, syndication outlets, and video search.