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Not so Bright-cove

Posted by Preetam on Nov 05, 2008 | Comments

After announcing a few months ago that they were shutting down Brightcove.TV, Brightcove has now announced that they will be discontinuing their ad-supported free version.

The upwards jump is scary..from $0/year, you’re now faced with $6000/year.

I remember a recent interview when Jeremy Allaire said: “We’ve made multiple bets, and the platform side won.”

  • Obviously, some publishers lost. Especially given the current economic context.
  • We shudder to think of the money that went into funding Brightcove.TV and all those free ad-supported accounts.
  • Finally, Brightcove seems to think that several hundred dollars a month is a “low-cost” service. Pull up SaaS offerings today, and find me something that has a basic service running into several hundred dollars a month.

Hmph!

We’re trying to figure out what we can do to help. Obviously, this is a big opportunity for us, but we also want to see how we can help, beyond just offering an alternative.

Initial thoughts include:

  • making it simple for Brightcove Basic customers to transition into the Marcellus platform
    • importing videos
    • importing metadata
    • anything else……?
  • making it very cost-efficient to make the transition
    • we’re planning on waiving the SaaS fee for Brightcove customers
    • we’re planning on creating a special pricing model attuned to this new reality.

Two weeks is all we ask. Please stay tuned, and I promise to respond with a solution.

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  • Hello there,
    I understand your frustration with Brightcove, but there are a few alternatives out there that do measure up. For example, Endavo Media (http://endavomedia.com/interettv.html) is a great lower-cost alternative to Brightcove that lets you customize your players, distribute your content to websites, blogs, social networks and to consumer devices (like iPod) and do much more.

    You can take advantage of their viral sharing and social distribution features, run a contest, allow and control user-gen uploads or embed videos and players on other websites, blogs and social networks and allow your viewers do the same. You can also upload pictures and audio files or stream live.

    Various monetization options like pre- and post-roll ads, banner advertisement, subscriptions and more are also available.

    If you'd like to learn more, you can reach Shaun Pope at 1-877-843-7242 x-83 or shaunp [at] endavomedia.com

    Good luck,
    Tatiana
  • I've been knocking my head against the wall looking for a satisfactory alternative to Brightcove & nothing measures up. Every solution I have come across has major drawbacks.

    The only positive comment I can make about Brightcove right now is that at least they made the downloading of my 550+ flash video files easy.

    I've requested a trial account but would love to be able to see a demo of your player (would tell me whether or not this is a feasible solution) & would love to know your costs. Many video publishing providers call themselves "affordable" but as soon as you look at what it costs to have large streams, etc. they are not.
    Naomi @ www.culturesurfer.com
  • Marcellus,

    I am also in the bunch of publishers that were shocked and thrown for a loop with the Brightcove change. I was trying to find a good alternative and I am impressed with what I am hearing about what your company can offer. I am glad there is a company out here who is mindful of our plight and willing to offer a comparable solution at affordable pricing. I look forward to working with you!
  • hi there

    I am a current (soon to be former) BC/BC3 account who has been with them since their inception. I understand their need to monetize the platform but still feel that there could have been room to grandfather in loyal BC accounts that supported them right from the start. We have grown steadily over time but are still months away from making the jump to their pay version.

    I just stumbled unto your service tonight and am keen to figure out what your capabilities are. Unfortunately, there are no demo's anyway to view customization, but I trust it's well in place.

    Most important to me is customization, HD (16:9 aspect ) and effective navigation tools.
  • Thank you, Mark.

    Yes, we do understand that these new price points make BC quite inaccessible, especially in the current economic context.

    We are also mindful of the fact that you have other options, so we want to try and do more than offer an alternative...we want to try and help facilitate an easy transition.

    If you haven't done so already, please send me an e-mail, and/or request an account at: http://www.marcellus.tv/request.
  • Marcellus - Your thinking is re a Brightcove transition is fantastic news for small independent producers. I look forward to shifting over.
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