SPT’s Keith Le Goy rails against paralysis in ‘fearful’ industry

Sony Pictures Television chair Keith Le Goy has called on buyers to make “bolder, quicker creative decision-making”, dismissed concerns around AI pervasiveness in content creation, and talked up the prospects of Mr Loverman returning for a second series in a wide-ranging discussion at the Banff World Media Festival. 

In a keynote session yesterday (9 June), Le Goy addressed myriad matters, ranging from SPT’s ongoing legal battle with CBS over gameshows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to ‘solving fear’ in the industry, which is paralysing commissioning decisions – particularly among streamers – and risks alienating fans. 

“It’s got to the point with some streamers where you make eight episodes of a series, then you wait a year or 18 months for them to decide to pick up season two. Season two comes two or three years later and season three maybe two or three years after that. So over six years, you’ve made 24 episodes,” he explained. 

“This loses the momentum of the show among audiences. And that matters. Start to make bolder decisions, quicker decisions. Don’t let the data get in the way of creative, bold decision-making. That’s going to produce a much healthier ecosystem all round. 

“You’ve got to be in the cultural zeitgeist, you’ve got to be in the conversation. Hits are hard to come by. So when you have one, make the most of it.” 

His views echo those of his Sony colleague, SPT Studios chief Katherine Pope, who raised the issue about slow renewal decisions late last year at MIA in Rome. But Le Goy said the SVoD majors are facing a crossroads with this tactic as their advertising tiers gain traction among audiences. 

“It’s going to be really interesting to see whether streamers start to go more towards a kind of broadcast model,” he said.

“I do think that as they start to care more about advertising, and therefore audience engagement and building momentum around big shows, there will be more movement towards that quicker decision-making and longer episodes for a season.” 

AI’s impact on decision-making 

Le Goy, who was in bullish mood on-stage in Alberta, noted that there are parallels between the digital platforms’ obsession around data and the industry’s nervousness around AI, which he dismissed as being the wholesale doom-laden threat some see. 

“AI is a tool that is imperfect, still nascent, but it is a tool. It’s not a replacement for human decision-making no more than data, analytics or algorithms are a replacement for human creativity,” he said.  

“What happens sometimes is that it [becomes] easy to say: ‘oh the algorithm [says this]’. The algorithm doesn’t decide, people decide. The algorithm doesn’t create, people create. AI doesn’t decide.  

“If we use AI as an excuse for procrastination and fear-based decision-making, driven by ‘seeing what the data tells us’, then we’re just putting off decisions that we know we should make.” 

He cited Fable Pictures’ Bafta-winning adaptation of Bernadine Evaristo’s novel Mr Loverman, which he said SPT is driving for BBC1 to recommission after its breakout success last October. 

“Again, no algorithm is going to greenlight that show, but this is a story that needs to be told,” he emphasised. “We’re looking to see if we can bring that back for a second season.  

“It’s incredible storytelling, it’s incredible bravery from the BBC and all the partners around the world who embraced the show.” 

Namechecking the strong ratings out of the gate for Left Bank Pictures’ Netflix detective drama Dept. Q and HBO Max juggernaut The Last of Us, Le Goy added that the challenges and worries in the industry have impacted people’s enjoyment of the success stories. 

“We need to solve fear. We are very good storytellers in our business and we’re telling too good a story of decline,” he said. “We need to start telling a story of the robust consumption of content around the world [that exists and] that is engaging.” 

Le Goy also provided an update on the ongoing legal dispute with Paramount’s CBS Studios over the distribution of hit gameshows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, which the companies have been at loggerheads since SPT filed a lawsuit against CBS Studios in October. 

“That is pursuing its course and will get resolved in due course. We feel pretty good about our arguments,” he said. 

The situation was spiced up last week when SPT struck a major streaming deal for the pair of shows with Peacock, Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ in the US, which will see next-day availability on the platforms for the 2025-26 season – the first time that in-season syndicated episodes will be available on national streamers. 

“Streaming is just a completely separate set of rights which are not covered by any previous agreement,” he said. 

“We took the lead in negotiating the last syndication and in that deal we specifically carved out the ability to do next-day national streaming. We asked CBS to mirror that in the other syndication deals they did so that we could do this without surprising or upsetting any syndication partners. 

“What we wanted to do with streaming was give ourselves the chance to find a new audience. The syndication audience and the streaming audience don’t cross over that much. This is going to be amplifying these shows, broadening their appeal rather than cannibalising any existing partnerships.”