Endemol has become the first independent producer to take advantage of the multiplatform opportunities offered by Red Bee’s digital asset management solution, Digital Hive.

Red Bee will digitise 500 hours of Endemol’s UK archive, which includes the content distributed to Endemol’s online Lazy TV channel, an Endemol service on Joost and the Best of Deal or No Deal channel the production company has set up on YouTube.

The service both archives material in digital form and repurposes it for alternative platforms such as mobile and the web. Metadata will be created for each show and stored digitally with the programmes at Broadcast Centre in west London, ready to be transcoded for alternative platforms.

An Endemol spokesman said: “Digital distributors and aggregators have been keen for us to do this for a while. It allows us to both securely store our content in digital form and avoid sending tapes to third parties.”

He added: “The content was chosen carefully. It is short-form, which suits the new platforms, and is aimed at 16 to 24 year olds.”

Endemol will join the BBC, Virgin Media, Orange’s new IPTV service, and Swiss TXT who all have content stored in the Digital Hive.

Red Bee head of digital media Lucy Amortegui said: “We are seeing across-the-board interest in this service, as new platforms offer an alternative revenue stream to content producers and give access to the youth market.”

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, follows a busy month for Red Bee, which has expanded into the Far East, with the opening of an office in Singapore. The offering will include media management, branding, promotions and editorial services.

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