The Competition Commission has concluded Project Kangaroo will result in a “substantial lessening of competition in the supply of UK TV VOD content at the wholesale and retail levels”. It will not mean the same in online advertising or content acquisition, the antitrust body said, in a 7am summary of a provisional ruling due later this week – but this is another big blow to Kangaroo’s launch plans.
CC chairman Peter Freeman: “We are concerned that a loss of rivalry between BBCW, ITV (LSE: ITV) and C4C, who are normally regarded as close competitors, could restrict existing and future competition for VOD. Whatever benefits viewers would gain from this rivalry would clearly be lost. The evidence that we have seen tells us that domestic content is key to being able to offer strong competition to UKVOD