IPA “disappointed” by Kangaroo ruling
The IPA has expressed disappointment at the Competition Commission’s ruling to block Project Kangaroo, the joint VoD venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4.
The Commission’s final report, which was published yesterday, concluded that Kangaroo would be “too much of a threat to competition” in the current developing video-on-demand market (see Competition Commission “stops” Kangaroo).
“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,” the report said.
“BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 together control the vast majority of [valuable UK-orginated] 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,” the report added.
Geoffrey Russell, IPA director of media affairs, said: “From the IPA’s position, we found ourselves torn between the desire to see the VoD area grow as a result of Project Kangaroo raising the sector’s profile with the consumer and the dangers of allowing the creation of a giant, which might subsequently exploit its dominant position to the detriment of advertisers/viewers.
“We are disappointed that the opportunity, which Kangaroo offered for growing the VoD market appears to have been blocked, but would still hope that some means might be found, whereby fears over the availability of original material to other channels in the marketplace might be overcome,” he added.
The shareholders of Kangaroo have said that they won’t appeal against the Competition Commission’s ruling, however, the partners will participate in an ongoing consultation with the Commission to determine the full extent of the ban.
In response to the publication of the Commission’s final report yesterday, the shareholders said: “We are disappointed by the decision to prohibit this joint venture. While this is an unwelcome finding for the shareholders, the real losers from this decision are British consumers.”
IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk