Advanced Television

Arqiva VOD service through Kangaroo

July 29, 2009

Arqiva is to buy the technology behind the defunct broadband TV venture Project Kangaroo and launch a video-on-demand service of its own. The company is now talking with broadcasters and content providers to stock up for the service.

Arqiva said the new video-on-demand service would appear in the coming months and feature “both free-to-air and pay content propositions”. It is not yet clear whether it would introduce a subscription or pay-per-view model or both. “The platform will aim to host top-end quality content from leading broadcasters and independent content providers to provide a broad range of user experiences to its audiences."

The move will put Arqiva, which owns the UK terrestrial TV and radio transmitter network but is neither a broadcaster nor a content producer, in a consumer-facing relationship for the first time. Arqiva is unlikely to keep the Kangaroo brand or use its own corporate name for the new venture.

The company owns two of the six Freeview multiplexes and became the sole owner of the national digital radio multiplex Digital One taking over the majority stake that was owned by Global Radio, the owner of Classic FM and Capital Radio.

Arqiva wouldn't say what they paid for Kangaroo but it is likely to be a fraction of the £30m (E37m) that Project Kangaroo cost its partners.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, VOD