Kangaroo “In Final Stages” Of Development

Kangaroo, the forthcoming video-on-demand service from BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, is said to be in the final stages of development and looking for an ad sales house.

The search is reported in the trade press as being the last hurdle for the venture, which is due to launch in the summer.

Ad space on the service’s home page is on offer, as well as several display opportunities throughout the site.

Kangaroo is expected to be extremely popular, considering the increase in VoD usage and services such as the iPlayer and 4oD.

One senior executive involved in the venture told NMA that the structure and ad formats for Kangaroo were all in place, and the service would be ready to go once the final sales teams were in place.

Kangaroo was unveiled late last year (see Feature: Content-Rich Kangaroo Looks To Dominate VoD Market), and with the wealth of content available to it via the three broadcast behemoths, it is likely to be highly successful, with many suggesting it will push the likes of Joost and Google video to the sidelines (see Kangaroo Could Be A Huge Success).

“It could be a huge source of revenue for British broadcasters,” said media journalist Ray Snoddy, whilst Adam Freeman, commercial director at Guardian News and Media, said: “I think we should applaud Kangaroo, because it’s an acknowledgement that there are three or four ways of making money out of the same content at different stages, whereas originally content was broadcast at a set time, there was an income around it, and then it was gone.”

He explained: “I think maybe the total initial income will fall over time, but the overall gross benefit will absolutely outweigh that, so I think you’ll make more money ultimately.”

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com