Data obsession robs Netflix of any creativity, says BBC chief

THE BBC has heart where Netflix has only “the insatiable greed for datagathering”, the corporation’s head of television has said.

Charlotte Moore said the BBC stood out from Netflix, Amazon and other streaming services that relied on algorithms over human intuition.

Ms Moore said: “So much of what’s driving rapid change in our industry is about technology, not creativity. The landscape is increasingly defined by what will deliver the biggest profits … not the best programmes. “I worry that the insatiable greed for data-gathering is serving the wrong master – that businesses are focused on what they can take from audiences, instead of what they can give back. The BBC is different.” Netflix commissions shows based on data about what audiences watch, and thus what is likely to be a hit. Delivering the Steve Hewlett Memorial Lecture, Ms Moore said that approach does not allow for risk-taking. “I don’t believe any amount of data can tell you what to commission next,” she said. “Data simply won’t deliver you Car Share, A Very English Scandal or Murder in Successville.

“As the incentives of the biggest players become ever more commercial and cautious, ours need to become ever more creative and bold. Where they’re led by algorithm, we need to be led by pure creativity.”

Ms Moore said there was “no question” that the arrival of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google in the television market had driven up quality.

But she said their focus on ploughing billions into international hits means there are “fewer and fewer distinctively British stories”.