Brightcove has launched their portal site in addition to announcing their economic revenue share model for content creators, affiliates, advertisers and partners.

Content creators have two options, a free model where they determine what ad pre-roll into your content, or a paid model at $49/month with no adverts. Those who have been using their commercial preview will have until the end of 2006 to determine which model works best for them.

As a content creator, I have one main concern about the free service, namely what type of content might pre-roll or otherwise be "embedded" the term they use with my content? While this may be extreme, if for example I am a content creator of an organic food show, how do I know that Frito-Lay or other highly processed food manufactures ads might appear in context to my content? Are they going to match content with "appropriate" ad specific spots?

In their FAQ, they indicate they sell to a variety of national and niche advertisers. To their credit, they exclude pornography, alcohol, tobacco and online gambling advertising. What about political or religious ads?

In addition and I gather to appeal to non-technical types, Brightcove has created a tool called Publishpod, which they promote as a way to "customize, build, publish and syndicate and Internet TV channel in just a few minutes"

The all-important Rev share model is straightforward; Brightcove will give rights holders 50% of the revenue from ad sales. In addition, if your content is carried by an affiliate, Brightcove pays the affiliate 20%; Brightcove then splits the remaining 80% in half, or 40% going to you the rights holder.

Content holders are paid monthly, what they indicated is "approximately one month after the minimum payment threshold of $20 has been achieved".

For content holders who wish to offer paid downloads of their content the model is as follows. Brightcove shares 70% of the purchase revenue. They indicate they will cover delivery, support (undefined) and credit card transactions (this is an important point for small content creators who do not want the expense and hassle of setting up a merchant account) The rights holder set the price from $0.99 and up.

For rentals, content holders can set 1, 3, 7, or 30 day terms with a $0.99 minimum rate.

If your content is carried by an affiliate, Brightcove will first pay the affiliate 20% of the ad revenue and then share 50% of the remaining revenue with you. Of course, one could strike a deal with Revver directly, either in addition to or in lieu of Brightcove.

Certainly, Brightcove is among a short list of players who have created a robust publishing platform for more professional content creation and have worked hard to address all parts of the puzzle. Time will tell how successful their reach is in attracting content holders, making it profitable for them against their paid model and if advertisers will see positive ROI in the experience.

At the end of the day, they are a channel (with a nice production front-end) and as a content holder, I will certainly consider them as one of several outlets across both fixed and mobile platforms. Content creators should focus on a variety of platforms to address their content distribution needs. I can envision the need for a sort of CTO position, call that person a CIPTVO or Chief IPTV Technology Officer, a person who is charged with developing a comprehensive and holistic strategy that best suits their company's needs specific to IPTV distribution. Of course, I am available :-)