thePlatform has announced a larger multi-year relationship with existing customer BT under which its mpx system will provide video publishing for BT TV. Going forward, BT TV will be hosted at thePlatform's European data center. To date, BT has been using mpx to manage its IP-based TV service, which has over 1 million subscribers in the UK.

Now mpx will be used to power BT TV, which includes the YouView+ set-top box. Subscribers can gain access to various packages of streaming HD linear and on-demand content via the YouView+ box, which also powers DVR and advanced guide features.

According to thePlatform, it will provide similar services for BT TV as it does for Comcast's X1. These include workflow of video ingest, metadata management, data coordination with recommendation engines, subscriber management, rights enforcement and automated video publishing to YouView+ set-tops.

BT is a great example of how pay-TV operators are continuing to enhance their traditional video services by using broadband and online features, particularly with new customer premise equipment. As OTT services like Netflix have raises the bar for viewers' expectations, it's essential that pay-TV operators keep pace in order to retain subscribers.

(Note: thePlatform is a VideoNuze sponsor)