CEO Named for Kangaroo

LONDON, April 14: The
BBC’s Ashley Highfield has been appointed as the CEO of Kangaroo, a
joint-venture on-demand service from BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 that is
set to launch in the U.K. later this year.

Highfield will head up the
commercial three-way joint venture, with its launch subject to approval by the
BBC Trust and each broadcaster's board, and will take over from Lesley
Mackenzie, who has been managing the project as interim CEO. Highfield will
oversee the launch of the new service, and will also lead negotiations with
third-party content owners and the future distribution of the service on other
platforms. He comes to the position from the BBC, where he served as the
director of future media and technology and was also a member of the company’s
executive board.

John Smith, the chief
executive of BBC Worldwide, said: “I’m delighted we’ve appointed Ashley as the
CEO of Kangaroo. His knowledge in the digital-media field is world class and
he’ll bring tremendous strategic and operational expertise to successfully take
the venture forward.”

Michael Grade, ITV’s
executive chairman, said: “Kangaroo will be an important shop window for U.K.
broadcaster content and is another component of ITV’s exciting online strategy.
I am pleased we have appointed a CEO with Ashley’s experience and expertise.”

Andy Duncan, the chief
executive of Channel 4, added: “This is great news for Kangaroo and its
founding partners. Ashley is one of the most influential players in digital
media and emerging markets and the ideal CEO to drive this important and
exciting project forward. On demand is already growing at a lightning rate, as
can be seen in the figures for 4oD and more recently the BBC’s iPlayer, and
Kangaroo’s launch will drive the market from strength to strength.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski