Investigation Into Project Kangaroo Pushed Back To 2009

The Competition Commission has been forced to extend the deadline for its investigation into Project Kangaroo until next January, because ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide failed to submit information on time.

The commission requested details from the partners of the broadband joint venture, so it could assess whether the project will result in a merger situation that will lead to competition issues, according to reports.

However, the broadcasters missed the six-day deadline given to them to provide details on the scope of the proposed online TV service.

The regulator said: “The Competition Commission’s questions have revealed a number of important issues which are outstanding between the parties and which they have indicated they are unable to resolve without further negotiation.”

Kangaroo was referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading in June, pushing back its planned launch this year (see Kangaroo Referred To Competition Commission).

The inquiry by The CC is expected to look at four distinct markets to analyse the effect of competition, including the retail supply of VOD services, wholesales supply of VOD service, acquisition of VOD content rights and finally, advertising.

The report is set to be published in mid-January, a month later than its original December 14 deadline.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk