Office of Fair Trading upsets Kangaroo/SeeSaw
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008OFT repeated cry of regulation
Project Kangaroo, working title for the joint on-demand venture between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has been referred for investigation by the Competition Commission after the Office of Fair Trading concluded that there was a danger that the platform could become too big and could crowd out any potential competition.
As a joint venture between the main UK broadcasters, Kangaroo was always going to be big, and there was no question if it would go live without having to go through the regulatory mangle first. Optimistically, Project Kangaroo, which promises tens of thousands of on-demand programming, was due to hop onto British screens this autumn, but now the Commission has until the 12th of December to conclude its investigation, so its unlikely that we’ll get to see anything Kangaroo shaped appearing on the horizon anytime this year.
Project Kangaroo is headed by Ashley Highfield – he chap most famous for launching the BBC iPlayer – and was recently given the proposed title of SeeSaw, which we reckon is a bit rubbish. We preferred Project Roo.
