TORONTO – Ontario’s public educational broadcaster TVO has unveiled its new online video player this week.
Created using the Brightcove Internet TV platform, TVO has initially launched the player on its popular web site for kids, www.tvokids.com.
"TVO is focused on creating greater impact in the digital space," said CEO Lisa de Wilde, in a release, "and innovative Internet TV platforms like Brightcove are a natural fit with our strategy to engage as wide an audience as possible with easy-to-access educational media."
Kids opening the tvokids.com video player are greeted by colourful menus that enable them to choose channels of full-length curriculum-based video content, broken down by user-friendly categories like music videos, TV shows, and extras. Key features include a full-screen video option, superior video and audio quality, and direct links to related games and activities.
"Children are visually-oriented, and the graphical user interface of the online video player is very intuitive. This allows for direct access to a vast array of our kids’ programs and web activities, learning opportunities that will keep young minds active and inspired all summer long," added de Wilde.
Using Brightcove’s open application programming interface (API), TVO’s Flash developers were able to create a highly customized player experience for tvokids.com, which already features 160 Flash-based games and activities and has been nominated in the Excellence in Children’s category for the upcoming 2008 Canadian New Media Awards.
This fall, TVO will be rolling out Brightcove’s Video Player technology for its adult, prime-time audience in a new, centralized video console on tvo.org.
