With the collapse of Project Kangaroo, I assumed online TV in the U.K. would be limited to the BBC iPlayer for a long while to come. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, with the competition hotting up. The latest contender is Microsoft, which today launched its MSN Video Player.
The BBC iPlayer And…
The BBC iPlayer is a brilliant service, and one which I have used on a weekly basis since it first launched at the end of 2007. But, as good as it is, it is obviously limited to new episodes of BBC shows. And competition is always good.
That’s the view the Competition Commission took when it ordered Project Kangaroo, a joint project between the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, to be shut down before it had even got started. And the decision left British viewers with little choice in the online video market.
Hulu U.K.
That was until Hulu, the hugely popular U.S.-only online TV platform, signaled its intentions to launch a U.K. version of the site. A senior vice president of international operations was hired in March. While May saw newspaper reports that Hulu was in negotiations with several British broadcasters.
The beginning of July saw the stakes upped even higher, with Hulu spelling out its international roll-out plans. The company sees the U.K. as its number one priority and a British-based Hulu could be launched as early as September.
Arqiva (Formerly Kangaroo)
Then yesterday saw the sale of the Project Kangaroo technology lock, stock, and barrel to Arqiva, a U.K.-based broadcasting operator. The company plans to use the Kangaroo hardware, software, and branding to launch a video-on-demand television service within a matter of months.
MSN Video Player
has now also entered the fray, launching a pilot version of its MSN Video Player. A trial version will launch within a week, and include over 300 hours of content from the BBC and All3Media.
The service will be available free to all Broadband Internet users in the U.K., with advertising covering the costs. This will be a combination of pre-roll advertising and commercial breaks in the middle of longer-running shows.
Old Content
Series on offer initially will include Hustle, Mock the Week, Dead Ringers, That Mitchell and Webb Look, How to Look Good Naked, 10 Years Younger, and Peep Show. These are all older shows as Microsoft will only be airing episodes at least 180 days after they have aired on television. Which differentiates the MSN Video Player to the BBC iPlayer.
Flash Not Silverlight
The six-month pilot will use Adobe Flash rather than Microsoft’s own Silverlight technology. But should the trial prove successful, I suspect this will change before a full launch takes place. The MSN Video Player is being overseen by Ashley Highfield, who in his role as ex-BBC technology chief oversaw the iPlayer and the start of Kangaroo.
Conclusions
The online video sector in the U.K. is suddenly hotting up. The popularity of the BBC iPlayer has clearly persuaded others that it’s a market worth venturing in to. Whether Microsoft can get a foothold before Hulu U.K. arrives depends on whether viewers want to watch old content and are willing to sit through adverts in order to do so.
[Via Times Online]
