Competition Commission Blocks Kangaroo

The British Competition Commission has blocked Kangaroo, the proposed joint video on-demand service from the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, saying it would be a threat to competition.

The idea was a good one, a joint video on-demand service from three of Britain’s major broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4. Known as Kangaroo, it would have offered a one-stop service for consumers to catch up on programs.

However, it’s not to be. The Competition Commission has put a stop to the idea, saying it would be a threat to competition in the on-demand video industry, and that none of Kangaroo’s ideas to stop that go far enough.

In the Commission’s final report on Kangaroo, chairman Peter Freeman wrote:

"After detailed and careful consideration, we have decided that this joint venture would be too much of a threat to competition in this developing market and has to be stopped."

"BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 together control the vast majority of this material, which puts them in a very strong position as wholesalers of TV content to restrict competition from other current and future providers of video-on-demand services to UK viewers."

"We thought viewers would benefit from better video-on-demand [VoD] services if the parties – possibly in conjunction with other new and/or already established providers of VoD – competed with each other."

In a statement, the three participants expressed their disappointment at the decision.

"While this is an unwelcome finding for the shareholders, the real losers from this decision are British consumers," they said.

"This is a disproportionate remedy and a missed opportunity in the further development of British broadcasting."