SeeSaw, Arqiva’s attempt to create something similar to what the BBC had hoped to do, has now entered a private, invite-only beta. This will last roughly a month, with content deals being thrashed out before the launch proper.
Kangaroo – SeeSaw
has risen out of the ashes of Project Kangaroo, the joint project between BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 that would have seen all strands of British TV brought together in one Web video portal. That was until the Competition Commission killed Kangaroo off after BSkyB and Virgin Media pledged complaints.
The BBC and its partners have gone on to create Project Canvas, a much more ambitious effort that seeks to create a new standard and platform for IPTV in the U.K. Set-top boxes are even part of the plan.
Arqiva bought the Kangaroo infrastructure last July for an estimated £8 million ($14 million).
SeeSaw Starts
entered its beta testing period on Tuesday (Jan. 26). Anyone resident in the U.K. can sign up for the beta, with invites sent out on a first-come, first-served basis. I applied on Wednesday and received mine on Friday.
Up to 10,000 invites will be sent out during the beta period, and I’d assume most people who apply will receive one. While Arqiva hasn’t announced its final launch date, the beta is expected to last around a month, with feedback welcomed during that period.
Content Deals
SeeSaw currently has content from the BBC, some old, some new, Channel 4’s 4oD, and Five. But there is more content on the way, with Arqiva thought to be keen to do deals with a number of other content providers.
According to PaidContent, independent U.K. producers Shed Media and talkbackTHAMES are on board, as are U.S. producer RHI Entertainment, Distributor Digital Rights Group, and Perform, which specializes in sports content.
Conclusions
I’ve only used SeeSaw briefly so far, but hope to have a full, first-impressions review up in a day or two.
As with every online video service, content is key, and that is what Arqiva needs to focus on if it’s to succeed as a service that not only wants to offer content for free and paid for by advertising, but also content it can charge for.
Whether it can do this will not become clear until well after the beta period has ended and the full service is up and running.
