Bye bye, Brightcove

I received the following e-mail:

Beginning December 18, 2007, we plan to end support of direct consumer uploads to Brightcove.TV. As a result, you will not be able to upload new videos to Brightcove.TV after December 17, 2007. But videos you have already uploaded to Brightcove.TV will remain available on the site and through your Brightcove.TV channel. Videos you have embedded in other sites and blogs will also continue to play.

If you have a Brightcove Platform or Network account, which means you use the Brightcove Console, then you will still have the option to promote videos on Brightcove.TV.

Brightcove.TV will continue to be a guide to great video from Brightcove media and business partners. The site will have new videos added to it daily from these partners and these videos can be saved as favorite videos in your channel.

This is disappointing. Brightcove is easy to use, and has a very nice player. I have never been crazy about YouTube's player. I don't like the branded bug in the lower corner of the screen. Brightcove got around this by placing its brandmark on the panel, rather than on the screen.

I am not sure why Brightcove thinks it will succeed by becoming strictly an outlet for commercial content. As a mere "consumer," as the company describes me in its e-mail, my main reason for visiting the site is to upload clips that I wish to embed on my blog. I don't really care to look at commercial videos which, more likely than not, will come with 30-second ads that I will have to endure before getting to the good stuff. I suspect a lot of users feel the same way that I do.

Good luck with your new business model, Brightcove. It was fun while it lasted.