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SeeSaw TV service goes public with BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and Five

Project Kangaroo's tech bounces back
Written by Tim Ferguson, Contributor

Project Kangaroo's tech bounces back

The technology developed for the now-defunct online TV project Kangaroo has finally seen the light of day, following the public beta launch of Arqiva's SeeSaw service.

Kangaroo, a joint venture between BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and ITV, was blocked by the Competition Commission in February 2009 as it would place too much control of content and distribution in the hands of the broadcasters.

Following several months of speculation, during which mobile operator Orange was briefly linked to the technology, communications infrastructure and media services company Arqiva acquired the hardware, software and intellectual property assets of Kangaroo in August 2009 - and turned it into SeeSaw.

The online on-demand TV service now features catch-up and archive content from BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and Five. However, there's no content from ITV, one of the Kangaroo partners.

SeeSaw homepage

SeeSaw resurrects the technology originally developed for Project Kangaroo
(Image credit: SeeSaw)

SeeSaw has been tested as a closed beta since late January and includes a parental lock feature as well as a cinematic 'dim effect' option.

SeeSaw platform controller John Keeling said in a statement that the current service is "the tip of the iceberg" with much more content in the pipeline.

SeeSaw's public beta version currently has more than 3,000 hours of free content but the plan is to add around 2,000 hours of paid-for content during the second quarter of 2010.

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