[Satellite Today 07-27-09] Arqiva acquired the platform assets of Project Kangaroo, the Video-on-Demand (VoD) platform developed by UKVOD, a joint venture set up by BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, Arqiva announced July 24.
    The assets that Arqiva will acquire comprise of hardware and software technology, related intellectual property developed for the Project Kangaroo service. Arqiva will provide the technical basis of a VoD platform designed for a content aggregation service, where a wide variety of TV content is brought together in a one-stop-shop for long-form video content.
    Under Project Kangaroo, the platform was close to being ready for market launch before the initiative was prohibited by the Competition Commission earlier this year.
    The acquisition is expected to be concluded within a few weeks and will result in Arqiva launching a new VoD platform within the next few months.The platform aims to host content from leading broadcasters and independent content providers and provide both free-to-air and pay content propositions.