PBS has chosen media distribution company thePlatform to help boost its online video offerings. It's a fairly pretentious name, but in the two years that thePlatform has been a division of
Comcast, it's racked up some big name clients, including BBC, CBS College Sports and Hulu. The PBS deal is intended to bring something we all like -- more content on the web. The arrangement opens up a kind of free-for-all between nationally- and locally- originated content and websites. Of course, content from the PBS mothership can be sent out to local affiliate websites. But local stations will also have access to thePlatform publishing tools to allow them to push their content to other affiliates. This is good news, as some of our favorite PBS stuff is produced by local affiliates.
