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Tiscali Weighs In: Kangaroo 'Will Threaten Every Other UK Operator'

After Joost, BT (NYSE: BT) Vision, Lovefilm, TV producers umbrella PACT and advertising body IPA, Tiscali is the latest to see "significant issues and competition concerns" in Project Kangaroo.

UK CEO Mary Turner's outfit has told the Competition Commission's ongoing inquiry that the yet-to-launch VOD JV "will, by offering consumers fr*ee and limitless access to the content they value most highly, pose a significant threat to every other platform operator and broadcaster in the UK market".

Like other correspondents, Tiscali, which has been rolling out its own Tiscali TV IPTV service in a limited fashion following its earlier HomeChoice acquisition, said TV producers could be forced to grant Kangaroo exclusive VOD rights to their shows or to accept low prices, because the Kangaroo JV partners hold all the keys to the conventional TV world...

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Kangaroo has argued that rights for VOD and linear TV are distinct, but Tiscali says that distinction is "completely meaningless to the consumer", suggesting the 90 percent-plus share of conventional TV enjoyed by BBC, ITV (LSE: ITV) and C4 would naturally extend in to VOD...

Clearly spooked that Kangaroo could kill Tiscali TV (and, with it, BT Vision and the yet-to-launch Orange TV), Tiscali notes that Kangaroo will come "eventually through a broadband connection via a set top box", warning: "It is a major television platform in waiting, a uniquely strong distribution mechanism through which the UK's public service broadcasters will extend their hold over the country's pay television industry."

Update: BSkyB's (NYSE: BSY) submission was released later today, claiming Project Kangaroo would represent a "relevant merger situation" between its founding trio, resulting in "an immediate loss of the competition between three close competitors in the provision of VOD rights".