BBC, ITV and C4 confirm Project Kangaroo

We brought you news of this venture way back in June when it remained in the realms of rumour and speculation, but "Project Kangaroo" has now been officially announced.

The team up, encompassing BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, is a commercial three-way joint venture to launch an on-demand television service in 2008.

The service will offer over ten thousand hours of what the parties involved are promising will be the best of their current and archive programming.

The big plus for this is that Kangaroo will be a one-stop-shop with content from all three broadcasters under one umbrella, and it will be interesting to see if the Worldwide part of the BBC take lessons from the BBC iPlayer launch as regards platform compatibility.

Planned to be web-based "rich entertainment site", the service will be available to stream, as well as to download with options for consumers ranging from watching, renting or full-on buying.

These plans are subject to formal approval from the BBC Trust and each broadcaster's board. A "proper" name and branding will be announced nearer the time.