Brightcove Content Comes to Vudu Boxes

Brightcove and Vudu said today they’ve inked a partnership that will allow ad-supported online video from Brightcove customers to be delivered directly to televisions via Vudu set-top boxes. The first Brightcove customer to use the new offering will be Sony, which will provide music videos though its MyPlay application.

The Brightcove content will be part of Vudu Labs, which is Vudu’s latest attempt to stay competitive by opening up and expanding the capabilities of its set-top platform beyond just movie rentals and purchases. Vudu kicked off its Labs section last December, making YouTube, Flickr and Picasa available to its customers. Vudu went one step further last week by going box-less and integrating its platform into the Entone set-top box.

The Brightcove announcement as it stands now, however, won’t move the needle on Vudu adoption. Music videos are already available on Vudu via the YouTube integration, and YouTube on your TV is available through many other devices. Given the push towards authentication, it’s unlikely that full-length episodes from Brightcove’s big TV networks like MTV or IFC will appear on an over-the-top system that bypasses cable companies. And the Vudu partnership isn’t exclusive, so any interesting content from Brightcove customers will undoubtedly pop up on other set-top boxes and Net-connected television sets.