Cisco is buying 1 Mainstream a company that helps service providers, broadcasters, media companies, and emerging digital content companies deliver their media content to almost any connected media device, from Apple TV to Microsoft Xbox.
This may not seem like a big deal, but we talked with a few Cisco employees who said this purchase will help move Cisco into offering more back-end support for services that want to stream content online.
One employee noted that there is currently a live TV beta service similar to Pluto TV that only Cisco employees can use. They plan to use that as a beta test to help improve services like WatchESPN. Other Cisco employees said Cisco wants to be the back end for a wide range of services and make it easy for new ones to get off the ground.
Rob Salvagno said in a Cisco blog post, “1 Mainstream plays a key role in the OTT PayTV and media industry, sitting at the intersection between content and connected devices and seamlessly moving content across connected devices. The company’s platform is widely used by major content providers and traditional service providers to deliver their content across most of the video streaming platforms available today.”
He went on to say, “Today’s acquisition will enable service providers, broadcasters, and media companies to make their entire channel lineup and content library available to their customers on the Internet via their TV, tablet, or connected devices, either within the home or on the go.”
It sounds like Cisco has a particular target in mind for this service past their already close relationship with Disney. It should be interesting to see what new services come from this because these types of moves are rarely made without a long-term service in mind.