Internet TV startup Brightcove, which has developed online tools to get video distributed on websites and collect fees or ad revenue, has gotten high-profile investors America Online and InterActiveCorp (along with Allen Bank and Trust, and Hearst) to invest $16.2 million in the company, reports Reuters. Brightcove has also inked a distribution deal with AOL. Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff is quoted as saying the investments could help break "TV's exclusive lock" on how viewers watch TV.

Bernoff said the move is indicative of internet and media trends: a desire by media companies to put more shows on the web; consumers' appetite for online videos; and booming online advertising.

Program owners who upload videos to Brightcove's servers can opt to have Brightcove attach a 15- or 30-second commercial to the videos - and be charged nothing for the service. Advertisers are charged $25 CPM, a rate higher than the average $16-20 charged on broadcast TV. Brightcove takes an estimated 30 percent cut of ad sales.

Women's cable TV network Oxygen Media and lifestyle television and media network Lime, funded by AOL founder Steve Case, are early customers of Brightcove. Several big media companies are testing the network, according to Brightcove founder Jeremy Allaire.