U.K. Regulators Kill Kangaroo Joint Venture VOD Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 4, 2009 - 12:12pm.

London - Kangaroo, a proposed online video-on-demand joint venture between U.K. broadcasters BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has been effectively killed by U.K. antitrust regulators, PaidContent reported.

After a ten-month probe, regulators concluded that the joint venture would wield too much power over pricing in the market, which includes rivals like BT's IPTV service, and Joost.

"The real losers from this decision are British consumers. This is a disproportionate remedy and a missed opportunity in the further development of British broadcasting," Kangaroo said in a statement.

PaidContent notes that the demise of Kangaroo could open the door in the U.K. to Hulu, the online video hub joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal -- which had been in talks to provide technology to Kangaroo.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/asn57r (PaidContent)

http://tinyurl.com/cqhzha (DMW previous coverage)

Published in DMW Daily, February 4, 2009

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tags: Law | Policy | VOD | TV | iTV | BBC | Channel 4 | Hulu | Kangaroo |

Comments

i've been hearing all day

Submitted by Andybee (not verified) on February 5, 2009 - 2:16pm.

i've been hearing all day that the real losers are the consumers, but it's worthwhile to note that there are plenty of sites that have compiled all the free tv online. blinkx remote, ovguide, etc. it's a setback, sure, but consumers still have spots to get their fix.