Posted on Friday 5 December 2008
Kangaroo, a British rival to the U.S. Hulu, is facing evolution or death after the Competition Commission refused to accept it in its current form.
Kangaroo Lives
Back in November 2007, the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, four broadcasters in the UK, announced plans for a joint online video on demand venture. Kangaroo was meant to be an online version of Freeview offering over 10,000 of original programming.
The BBC already has the hugely popular iPlayer, ITV has the newly rename ITV Player, and Channel 4 has 4oD. Kangaroo would see all three services combined under one umbrella, while all would still also operate independently.
90% of the programming will be free, paid for by advertising. This would see the license fee-funded BBC making money as well as the commercial companies involved.
YouTube is growing up. Thanks to the influence of Google, the video-sharing site is becoming a haven for professional content, with advertising coming out of every orifice. And now we have video guidelines to match the maturity.
