Project Kangaroo investigated over monopoly fears
- Added:
- Jul 01, 2008
Project Kangaroo, the video on demand venture between BBC, ITV and Channel 4, is to be investigated after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred the plans to the Competition Commission (CC).
The OFT said the project raises concerns because "the concentration of these important and competing libraries of UK TV programming may give market power to the joint venture, enabling it to charge higher prices".
Simon Pritchard, senior director of mergers at the OFT, said: "Video-on-demand is a new and fast-growing consumer sector, and we should judge the issues on evidence, rather than speculate about consumer behaviour."
The idea for Project Kangaroo was first announced last November. The service will offer free TV shows from BBC, ITV and C4, alongside content to buy or rent.
The CC said it expects the investigation to take six months. The project was initially set for launch sometime this year, but the investigation could see it pushed back to 2009.