Why the BBC will struggle to make iPlayer as good as Netflix

According to BBC boss Tony Hall, the iPlayer needs to be reinvented with new technology such as voice recognition and artificial intelligence to stay ahead of "rapid growth by our competitors". He didn't name them, but those competitors are Netflix and Amazon which have in a relatively short space of time, elbowed their way into the TV market. From Stranger Things and The Crown on Netflix to The Grand Tour and Transparent on Amazon Prime, online only shows have become core components of what we watch. But while both Netflix and Amazon have invested heavily in content, it was the quality and simplicity of their technology that provided the foundation of their success. The iPlayer may have led the online TV revolution, but it has since fallen behind in features and usability. Hall is obviously aware of this, but for all his ambition, there are a host of reasons why the BBC will find it difficult, if not impossible, to make the iPlayer as good.