itvt

–Company is a VOD Joint Venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4

Ashley Highfield has quit his post as the BBC’s director of future media and technology to become the CEO of Kangaroo, a VOD service that is a commercial joint venture between the BBC, ITV (i.e. the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, the Independent Television Network) and Channel 4, and that is set to launch later this year (note: the launch of the service–which will initially be available via the Internet–is expected to take place in June). He succeeds Lesley MacKenzie, who
has been leading the venture as interim CEO. His new role will see
Highfield leading negotiations with content owners and potential
distributors of Kangaroo’s service (note: “Kangaroo” is a working title).
During his stint at the BBC, Highfield oversaw the launch of the BBC
iPlayer and presided over significant growth of the Corporation’s Web
site (now ranked as the UK’s third most popular). “This is a fantastic
opportunity,” Highfield said in a prepared statement. “Kangaroo is a
historic partnership with a combination of innovative technology and
terrific content and I’m looking forward to transforming the way
audiences watch television.” The service is expected to offer around
10,000 hours of free and paid content.