TV Producers Fear Kangaroo Will ‘Dampen Competiton’, Dominate Like iTunes

Independent TV and film producers have told the Competition Commission’s investigation in to the proposed Kangaroo VOD service that the JV will mean “a significant dampening of this competition in the UK market for VOD services“.

The Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television’s (PACT) submission argues the BBC/C4/ITV (LSE: ITV) service could “push up the prices” they charge BT (NYSE: BT) Vision and Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) for VOD programming.

PACT’s is one of eight submissions made by entertainment companies. DVD rental service Lovefilm’s backer Arts Alliance Media also argued Kangaroo “has a publicly funded advantage over normal operators” and will “punish the consumer by limiting the opportunity of competition”; CEO Howard Kiedaisch said: “The situation is best compared to iTunes