BroadbandTV, Vuze join to advance IPTV platform

BroadbandTV hopes that the acquisition of Vuze will solidify its position in the IPTV market, which progressively looks to be the content delivery platform of the future.

BroadbandTV is a Vancouver, British Columbia company that specializes in the "aggregation, optimization, tracking, monetization of video content" over the Internet, according to its company profile. It was founded in 2005.

Although it is based in Canada, the company distributes content worldwide, with approximately 15,000 titles available. Adding Vuze --an open online video platform-- will bring to BroadbandTV a user base that counts some 18 million client downloads.

Vuze will gain access to BroadbandTV's lineup of programming on an advertising-supported basis, allowing Vuze to offer the content at no charge to its customers.

Along with the programming, Vuze offers its own Opti-Find technology, which lets content owners annotate files to make specific people, logos, and text discoverable in user searches.

Advertising revenues gained from the new partnership will be split between the two companies. The first 100 titles from BroadbandTV's library are expected to go live by next week, the companies said.