Microsoft launches UK video player
Microsoft has launched a new online TV player for UK broadband customers in a bid to fill the gap in the market left by the failed venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, Project Kangaroo.
The US software company also hopes its new VoD offering, which will broadcast shows such as Shameless, The Young Ones and the Peep Show, will up the anti on rivals Hulu and Arqiva.
Microsoft, which plans to launch its ad-funded UK online TV player next week, has agreed content deals with BBC Worldwide and All3Media, the producer of How to Look Good Naked and Midsomer Murders.
MSN Video Player will feature up to 300 hours of programming from the BBC, including shows such as Hustle, The League of Gentlemen, Hotel Babylon, Dead Ringers and Jack Dee Live at the Apollo.
However, programmes will not be made available on the MSN service until they have expired on broadcasters’ own websites, which means BBC content will be offered seven days after transmission, Channel 4’s programmes 30 days after and BBC Worldwide’s content 180 days.
Speaking about the new video player, which will initially run for a six-month pilot period, Ashley Highfield, Microsoft UK’s managing director, said the company have been working hard to develop something since the demise of Kangaroo (see Competition Commission “stops” Kangaroo).
“The hole left by Kangaroo was something that provided a catalyst,” he said. “To some degree there is a void left by Kangaroo, there is a gap for an aggregator.”
Highfield, who was briefly chief executive of Project Kangaroo before moving to Microsoft at the end of last year, also said the company is keen to get the service up and running before Arqiva and Hulu launch their rival products in the UK.
Last week, Arqiva bought the technology behind the failed Kangaroo venture and plans to launch its own VoD service, while the US online TV offering backed by NBC Universal, News Corporation and Disney, Hulu, also claims a UK launch is the company’s “priority”.
Microsoft, which has around 27 million users in the UK across its portfolio of online services including hotmail and MSN, is also expected to launch its new service on other digital platforms, such as the Xbox and mobile devices.