Speeches by Irons.

“I am interested in the question of the BBC driving technological development in line with public values—not just commercial imperatives—and how that can work along with AI. How much investment would we need to put behind the BBC to get it to where it is not necessarily in competition with those massive international pl…”

“Perhaps the argument for the BBC—and Jordan, perhaps you can say what you think about this—is that it has focused on content that it assumes younger people want to see. It will have put more into YouTube and it has the deal that it is trying to put together at the moment. Is part of the challenge not that the BBC has t…”

“Just to pick up on that, Iain, you talked about the BBC being smaller and focusing on a much tighter remit of content. To tease that out a bit more, what things do you think it should be doing specifically? Should it just be current affairs, news and that sort of thing?”

“We have talked about algorithms and how we are living in an age of endless content and information along with the power of algorithms to editorialise what we see and shape the collective individualism we all have with our screens. What are the practicalities? I think that the aspiration should be there for the BBC to a…”

“I am interested in the question of the BBC driving technological development in line with public values—not just commercial imperatives—and how that can work along with AI. How much investment would we need to put behind the BBC to get it to where it is not necessarily in competition with those massive international pl…”

“I guess that is tricky. It is a global market, and you are trying to retain people on iPlayer. You are going to want to catch their eyeballs as they land on that first page. You want it to be the thing that they have heard talked about on YouTube and whatever.”

“We have obviously talked about YouTube and its algorithm quite a lot. One of the good things about iPlayer is that it is the BBC’s own walled garden, so it can create tech and algorithm recommendation tools in line with public service broadcast values and what the BBC is for—if we ever find out what the BBC thinks it i…”

“Yes, and they want to see the thing they have seen there when they get on to the platform. You are going to have to track it through—sorry, that is getting a bit into the weeds. My final question is to both of you. There has been talk about trying to bring other public service broadcasters on to iPlayer to make it a mu…”

“I have two accounts: one that is dogs and one that is MPs. You are not necessarily actively choosing what you watch; it is being editorialised on your behalf. Given that, should there be more transparency on what is constructed within the algorithms so that you have genuine choice about what is editorialised and put in…”

“That is a good point. Perhaps the BBC should be smaller and focused on a much tighter remit. However, is there also a position for it in looking at how we encourage more diverse algorithms and ensure that a broader churn of things is served to us, whether on other platforms or its own? At the moment, we feel quite pola…”

“Is it actually choice, though? I forgot to declare an interest. I used to work at Channel 4 and my husband still works there. I always forget to do that—sorry. An algorithm editorialises what you see, so it might be that you have unintentionally watched a lot of dog videos, or, if you are an MP, watched a lot of other …”

“I want to talk briefly about iPlayer. In this changing landscape, BBC iPlayer has been quite a good thing for the BBC. It was a big bet that they made quite early, and it has worked out pretty well for them. Jordan, what do you think they should do to maximise the potential of iPlayer?”

“And ITV or whatever.”

“I have two accounts: one that is dogs and one that is MPs. You are not necessarily actively choosing what you watch; it is being editorialised on your behalf. Given that, should there be more transparency on what is constructed within the algorithms so that you have genuine choice about what is editorialised and put in…”

“That is a good point. Perhaps the BBC should be smaller and focused on a much tighter remit. However, is there also a position for it in looking at how we encourage more diverse algorithms and ensure that a broader churn of things is served to us, whether on other platforms or its own? At the moment, we feel quite pola…”

“I suppose that is the challenge of public service broadcasting: it has to try to be for everybody while, at the same time, being for nobody.”

“Finally—I know a lot of colleagues want to come in—let me ask you about the idea of the BBC’s role in the creative sector more broadly and its ability to be a bit of a catalyst for creativity, especially around the regions and out of London. Do you think that is something we need to push the BBC to do more of? Is that …”

“Yes, and they want to see the thing they have seen there when they get on to the platform. You are going to have to track it through—sorry, that is getting a bit into the weeds. My final question is to both of you. There has been talk about trying to bring other public service broadcasters on to iPlayer to make it a mu…”

“Just to pick up on that, Iain, you talked about the BBC being smaller and focusing on a much tighter remit of content. To tease that out a bit more, what things do you think it should be doing specifically? Should it just be current affairs, news and that sort of thing?”

“We have talked about algorithms and how we are living in an age of endless content and information along with the power of algorithms to editorialise what we see and shape the collective individualism we all have with our screens. What are the practicalities? I think that the aspiration should be there for the BBC to a…”