With Kaltura being whisked up by the M&A rumor mill (see separate story in this issue), a prime opportunity presented itself to investigate the strategies and finances of a key rival, Brightcove, with results season in full swing. The two US video streaming specialists have oscillated and evolved since the early days of obtuse online video players and rudimentary content management systems. Brightcove has expanded from encoding provider to video communications platform underpinned by a marketing machine with more moving parts than we care to count, while Kaltura is thriving in supplying video tools for education. On this week’s earnings call, new Brightcove CEO Marc DeBevoise bragged about developing a “comprehensive plan” during his first 100 days at the helm,…