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Media
SeeSaw closes down
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 31 October 2011
Darn, SeeSaw is no more, or so it seems. The web-based video-on-demand platform, that had so much promise but never quite struck the content deals to make it all happen, went offline this weekend. The service’s home page now says, simply: “Thanks for your support but SeeSaw is no longer available”.
The future of the service – which began life as Project Kangaroo, a joint venture between ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC, but which was spun off as a private company after the Competition Commission raised concerns – first came into question earlier this year when owner Arqiva said it no longer wished to operate the platform and had failed to find a buyer.
But then a buyer arrived on the scene, a consortium led by Criterion Capital Partners, which planned to buy 75% of the loss-making enterprise, put former BBC and Channel 4 boss Michael Jackson in charge, and then pump in more cash to secure more content, including Hollywood movies. But the buyout started to untangle when one of Criterion’s backers, Weston Capital Management, got cold feet. Two existing SeeSaw content providers, Channels 4 and Five, pulled their content and various execs left.
It’s thought that those few people left working for SeeSaw will now lose their jobs as the company is wound up. Which is sad. Though on a selfish level, at least Channel 4 has launched a much better version of its own online on-demand service, given I mainly used the SeeSaw site for C4 shows.
