BBC TV chief Charlotte Moore slams Netflix and Amazon

Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s
director of content.
Getty

• Charlotte Moore, one of the world’s most powerful TV
  executives, has taken a brutal swipe at Netflix and
  Amazon.
• The BBC’s director of content said they have an
  “insatiable greed for data-gathering” and are motivated by
  profit, rather than what’s good for audiences.
• It is the latest swing in a sustained attack from the
  BBC on America’s big tech companies.

One of the world’s most powerful TV executives has taken aim at
Netflix and Amazon.

In a speech on Thursday night,
the BBC’s Director of Content Charlotte Moore said the US tech
giants have an enormous thirst for data and are motivated by
profit, rather than what’s good for audiences.

“So much of what’s driving the rapid change in our industry is
about technology, not creativity. The television landscape is
increasingly defined by what will deliver the biggest profits for
companies, not the best programmes for audiences,” she told an
audience in London.

“I worry that the insatiable greed for data-gathering is actually
serving the wrong master. That entire businesses are focused on
what they can take from audiences, instead of what they can give
back.”

It is the most brutal swipe yet in a sustained attack from the
BBC on America’s big tech companies. The corporation is worried
that the global TV market could be dominated by a small handful
of companies, who do not have the same public service remit of
the BBC. It wants the government to step in
and regulate these firms to level the playing field.

The broadcaster is funded by the British public and has a duty to
air TV shows that appeal to audiences of all backgrounds, as well
as foster new talent and empower the UK’s £2.7 billion ($3.6
billion) production sector. Moore is in charge of all the BBC’s
TV output, and the shows she commissions travel around the world.
Shows like “Blue Planet II,” “Doctor Who,” and “Top Gear.”

Moore argued that while the BBC’s funding for content is
shrinking, Amazon and Netflix are growing in power. And she
doesn’t think that’s helpful for the British TV industry.

“Netflix’s current budget for programmes is $8 billion. Amazon’s
is $5 billion. But their investment into new UK programmes is
only around £150 million a year. Less than 10% of their
catalogues is made up of content produced in the UK,” said Moore,
who was delivering the Steve Hewlett Memorial Lecture.

“In a world of incredible, unprecedented choice, the irony is
that British audiences may find it harder and harder to choose
the stories that matter to them most.”

Netflix declined to comment. The company only uses the data it
collects on viewing habits to inform it commissioning decisions.
It also has a healthy relationship with the UK’s top
broadcasters, coproducing and financing programming. It’s why
hit BBC1 drama “Bodyguard” is
being beamed to viewers across the world on Netflix.

Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request
for comment.