Everyone TV chief warns against SVoD ‘echo chamber’

The chief executive of Everyone TV (formerly Digital UK) has warned of the push by global players to allow “anonymous algorithms” to propose what content viewers should watch.

Speaking at the Outside the Box event today, Jonathan Thompson raised concerns that global players’ use of algorithms to serve viewers content they are likely to enjoy risks causing an “echo chamber” of viewing.

“We should never want to hold innovation back, but that innovation should not become the sole or even the main gateway for viewers being able to find British content,” he said.

“Nor should it lead to echo chamber of TV viewing where were served up what we already know we like, not what we might like.”

He cautioned attendees against “falling into the same trap” as social media.

“Every day we hear warnings of the dark sides of social media - of the real dangers when consumer outcomes are determined only by an algorithm…Let’s not make the same mistakes and allow the future of TV to be shaped entirely by global players,” he said.

He warned against allowing politicians to “fiddle with [public service broadcasting] and test [it] for ideological purity”.

“There is an urgent need for the government to be clear on the public role that TV continues to play in society and establish the framework of what we mean by universality in the connected age,” he said.

“Once the policy is set it should be left to industry to deliver.”

Curated worlds

In a later panel, Conservative MP John Whittingdale said moving into a more “curated world” is inevitable and predicted that algorithms will determine the homepages of TV sets in ten years’ time.

“There will not be a universal homepage – they will be based on what [viewers] like,” he said. “If public service broadcasters go on delivering great content, [that content] will be at the top [of the page].

He added that remaining relevant amid an “explosion of choice” is a greater threat to the PSBs than politicians.