Thread by @CommonsCMS

💻Today we're hearing from representatives from Amazon and YouTube about the role of video on demand services in the UK, and their relationships with the PSBs. 

📺Watch live from 10am here: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/9a…

@julianknight15

We'll be hearing from:

Georgia Brown - Director of European Originals, Amazon Studios
Chris Bird - Head of Content Europe, Amazon Prime Video

then

Iain Bundred - Head of Public Policy, UK & Ireland, YouTube
Richard Lewis - Head of UK & Ireland Content Partnerships, YouTube

Georgia Brown, Director of European Originals, Amazon Studios, tells Chair @julianknight15 that co-production between PSBs and @primevideouk is mutually beneficial, and says Amazon wants to continue to cultivate those relationships.

Current focus is scripted & unscripted content, but @primevideouk would expand into other genres if there was demand and if underrepresented voices were being failed. @julianknight15 asks if this includes events of national importance? Open to anything with customer demand.

.@BrineMP: Last year Prime added 12hrs of UK-originated content; Netflix added 150. What accounts for this?

Amazon: We're in the nascence of UK original content. We're ramping up but want to be curated rather than making 100s of originals. We want to cater underserved audiences.

Does @primevideouk share viewing figures for co-productions with PSBs? Amazon doesn't share quantitative data but does share knowledge about viewing habits. @DamianGreen then asks: is BBC copying you doing full season releases on iPlayer? Reply: we’re learning from each other.

.@CliveEfford: Amazon provides limited info on its workforce diversity. Can you give us a breakdown?

Amazon: we're not legally obliged to collect this data so cant break it down. We recognise that's not right; it's important we're accountable so we're working on this internally

In response to @CliveEfford Georgia Brown admits Amazon studios haven't done enough in terms of diversity of content and studios and haven't taken the time to understand what long term meaningful change would look like but have started to focus on it this year.

@KevinBrennanMP asks if Amazon would support legislation to update the rules around PSB prominence? Chris Bird says issue is up to Ofcom to determine, but Amazon would comply as required.

Lockdown saw increased viewing figures for @YouTube, particularly for live and cultural content. Richard Lewis says theatres forced to shut opened up their digital doors, which audiences appreciated. Pub quizzes also went digital in UK - unique compared to other countries.

.@KevinBrennanMP: Do you think online advertising regulations should be brought in line with those imposed on broadcasting?

@YouTube: No - we operate in different ways & the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS) separate us from linear TV & video on demand.

'Partners not competitors': Richard Lewis says that @YouTube's goal is not to erode the PSB model but to benefit & grow it. In response to Chair @julianknight15's doubts, Richard assures that YouTube helps audiences to discover PSB content & directs them to PSBs' own services.

Is @YouTube doing enough to stay ahead of the curve in preventing misleading information, asks @GilesWatling. Iain Bundred says medical misinformation policy was introduced in response to Covid-19. Can never do enough quickly enough, but YouTube is trying to be a leader.

Richard Lewis tells us that the ad revenue split for PSBs on @YouTube is the same as for all creators and confirms they get a majority. Asked by @DamianHinds why high costs of news reporting like fact-checking aren't accounted for, Richard believes what PSBs get is sufficient.

.@CliveEfford asks if there's a lack of transparency re recommendation systems.

@YouTube: we're committed to transparency & give a lot of user control - you can find out why a video was recommended. We try our best to give our users that context - if we don't, they won't stay.

Our session with Amazon and YouTube has now finished.

💻 ICYMI, you can watch the full session here: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/9a…