thePlatform Appoints Simon McGrath General Manager of Europe

SEATTLE and LONDON, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- thePlatform, an independent subsidiary of Comcast and leading white-label video publishing company, today announced the appointment of Simon McGrath as General Manager of Europe. Simon will lead thePlatform's European go-to-market strategies and operations and will report to Ian Blaine, CEO of thePlatform.  Additionally, the company announced that Darren Grimstead has been promoted to Director of European sales.

"Simon is joining thePlatform at a key inflection point in the history of thePlatform and the overall video market," said Ian Blaine, CEO of thePlatform. "European content owners, TV service providers, and other video aggregators are seeking efficient and scalable means to deliver video across multiple screens. We're confident that Simon's operational, marketing and sales leadership will play a key role in serving the European market."

Mr. McGrath has more than 20 years of experience leading strategic operational, marketing, sales and engineering initiatives at global organizations. Most recently, he served as Chief Marketing Officer and Commercial Director of EMEA at SeaChange International Inc., a global leader in the delivery of multi-screen video, which provides back-end solutions to companies such as AT&T, DISH Network, Hutchison Whampoa, Virgin Media, and many others. At SeaChange, McGrath led the acquisition of Mobix Interactive Ltd as well as held responsibility for all EMEA accounts, technology alliances and go-to-market strategies.

Prior to SeaChange, McGrath served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Director of Strategy, Development and Technology of On Demand Group Ltd., a subsidiary of SeaChange since September 2005. He joined On Demand Group in 2002 as its first Chief Technology Officer, leading the development and launch of ntl (now Virgin Media) Video On Demand, as well as building On Demand's Content Preparation Centre in London. Previously, McGrath served as Chief Sales and Communication Officer and Executive Board Member of Lysis SA, a software company specializing in advanced content management solutions for digital television based in Switzerland. McGrath joined Lysis in November 1999 through the acquisition of Concision Limited, a company he founded. He holds a master's degree in computer science from Cambridge University.

Darren Grimstead has spent the last eight years leading thePlatform's media and entertainment sales channel as Director, Media & Entertainment Sales. His clients include: PBS, Starz Play, NBC Local Media, truTV, News Digital Media, HIT Entertainment and other top media company accounts. In his new role, he will report to McGrath. Before joining thePlatform, Grimstead held executive sales positions at NetReflector and Loudeye, online media and technology companies, where he led strategic sales, market development, business development and customer acquisition initiatives.  

thePlatform publishes video and other media to PCs, mobile devices and TV. Media companies rely on thePlatform's mpx system as their open, central hub for managing, monetizing and syndicating billions of professionally produced video views annually. thePlatform currently provides online video management services to numerous programmers, leading media companies, and five of the top TV service providers in North America, including the largest "TV Everywhere" deployments.  

Both McGrath and Grimstead will be based out of London.  Additional details about thePlatform can be found at www.thePlatform.com.  

About thePlatform

thePlatform™ is the leading white-label video management and publishing company. Media companies rely on thePlatform as their open, central hub for managing, monetizing, and syndicating billions of professionally produced video views annually. The company's services provide unmatched versatility for designing and supporting video businesses on PCs, mobile, and TV. Customers include: Cablevision, Canwest, CBC, Comcast, Corus Entertainment, Cox Communications, ExerciseTV, HIT Entertainment, NBC Local Media, Outdoor Channel, PBS, PBS KIDS Sprout, Rogers, Sony BMG, Starz Play, Time Warner Cable, Travel Channel Media, truTV and numerous others. With a 10-year history of service, thePlatform is an independent subsidiary of Comcast based in Seattle, Wash. The company also has offices in New York and Los Angeles.   For more information visit: www.thePlatform.com.

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