• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, November 14, 2012

The AOL On Network on Wednesday is expected to announce a partnership with online video platform Kaltura.
 
The deal makes around 420,000 premium videos within the AOL On Network accessible from Kaltura's open-source video platform, which is used by 150,000 companies, including Best Buy, HBO and TMZ.
 
“It opens up places where The AOL On Network's content can live that have traditionally been against the two-player experience,” says Frank Besteiro, head of business development for The AOL On Network. “As a media company, our thoughts are on mass distribution for our content, and that means making our content player agnostic.”
 
As a result of the partnership, Kaltura’s publishers will be able to access and search the AOL video catalog, then add videos to their own accounts.
 
Regarding the business arrangements of deals, Besteiro said: “We will set up individual agreements with partners interested in taking our content through their Kaltura players. We can sell or they can sell both options as available to partners.”
 
Despite an explosion in online video, Kaltura co-founder Michal Tsur said quality content remains in high demand. “The goal [of working with AOL] is to provide a solution for publishers that have views but lack actual content,” Tsur said.
 
Added Besteiro: “Mass video views are the objective for this partnership. The ability to drive video views of our content across all platforms and devices is what every media company is looking to achieve.”

Kaltura recently launched new multiplatform functionality with support for iOS, Android, Xbox and Google TV, extending the reach of AOL content to users of mobile devices and connected TVs.
 
Launched just this past April, The AOL On Network brings AOL's entire video offering under one umbrella, and reaches more than 75 million unique visitors per month, according to AOL, citing comScore data.