Arqiva has announced it is seeking an investment partner for its online TV portal SeeSaw. It follows a strategic review held by the company with a view to accelerating the development of the service launched in February 2010.
“We’ve been looking at SeeSaw as part of a wider strategic review and, following the success in launching a pioneering new service to both consumers and advertisers, we now believe the service needs further investment to reach its full potential,” said Nick Thompson, managing director of Arqiva’s Broadcast & Media business unit.
SeeSaw is backed by unique technology and will be a major part of the connected TV revolution, but we need to enable a step-change in the development of the service in what is a very fast moving environment”
SeeSaw paid an estimated £8 million (€9.56 million) for the technology developed by Project Kangaroo that was broken up after the intervention of the Competition Commission broke up the BBC-ITV-Channel 4 venture.
Having refined the software, Arqiva used the IBC congress in Amsterdam in an attempt to sell the technology and knowhow internationally, but to date no contracts have been announced.
With Arqiva a partner in YouView, SeeSaw will be looking to take-up a place on the hybrid TV platform, slated for a mid-year launch though with increasing doubts about whether the venture will meet its given timetable.
SeeSaw itself has tried a number of innovations, such as introducing a monthly £2.99 fee in return for dropping advertisements, but to date it has failed to make its presence felt in the way that has been achieved by the BBC iPlayer.
Arqiva says it plans to look at all investment options for the business in order to support SeeSaw’s long-term success.
