There is a need for UK broadcasters to cooperate and possibly launch a ‘Kangaroo 2’, according to Steve Ungar, group director and board member, Ofcom.
Speaking in a keynote at the DTG Summit in London, he said that this was one in three ways in which they should collaborate in facing up to the challenge of companies operating on a global and massive scale. The others would be in audience measurement and in fact partnering with such global companies, which include Google, Netflix, Amazon and Facebook.
Broadband TV News notes that Project Kangaroo, mooted ten years ago, was a proposed VOD platform offering content from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
Ungar said that scale is now very important in the broadcasting ecology. While video consumption habits are changing, it is hard to predict how the future will look. DTT is nevertheless likely to remain important for a decade or more and public service broadcasters have the opportunity to adapt.
In a Q&A, Matthew Postgate, chief technology and product officer, BBC, confirmed that the BBC remains open to the idea of giving other content providers access to iPlayer.
At the same time, Steve Ungar, while supporting the idea, also said there should be a choice of platforms.
