Babelgum: "just ban Kangaroo"
January 8, 2009
Babelgum has called for the scrapping of the BBC/C4/ITV JV Kangaroo declaring any other option would breach Competition Commission rules. In its written response to the Commission's suggested remedies to keep the JV legal, Babelgum says only one of the proposed options – banning the project – is realistic. Last month Kangaroo made its compromise proposals in response to the commission's range of options, offering to give up the exclusive rights to its content. Kangaroo said two other proposals – reverting content rights back to producers and giving access to rivals – would make the project unworkable.
Babelgum highlighted the Commission's concerns that UK VOD players could be disadvantaged when seeking syndication deals, saying Kangaroo's rivals could be exploited through unrealistic prices for BBC, ITV and C4 content.
The Commission is working to February 8 deadline to make its final judgement on Kangaroo.