By: MarkJ - 10 June, 2008 (8:50 AM)
The joint BBC, ITV and Channel4 broadband Internet TV (IPTV) service, currently known as either Project Kangaroo or SeeSaw depending on whom you speak with, is now facing an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after rival Sky raised competition concerns.
It's reported that both Sky and
Virgin Media fear that the broadcasters could abuse their public service positions to unfairly promote and cross subsidies their own offerings:
Graham McWilliam, Sky's group corporate affairs director said: "The shareholders of Kangaroo must not be allowed to leverage their unique position in television, built on public subsidy, into the on-demand space." He said that shows available via the service should also be made available to competing web TV services.
The Register notes that if the OFT finds any problems then it could refer its case to the Competition Commission.
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