Public service algorithms: Balancing the scales between public mission and market pressures at the BBC and VRT

The public service media (PSM) shift to digital-first strategies has generated a rethinking of priorities in content production and distribution. This not only involves the integration of algorithms for the curation of their video-on-demand portals, but also a far-reaching reform at the organisational level. As personalisation through recommender systems is increasingly popularised by commercial streaming services, PSM are faced with a balancing act between market pressures and fulfilling their public mission. This article contributes to this discussion by investigating how public service algorithms are developed in practice in the cases of the BBC (UK) and VRT (Flanders-Belgium), and how their implementation is guided by the organisations’ remits. Through document analysis and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2024 with 16 PSM representatives, we discuss the ways in which market, policy, and organisational contexts inform the use of algorithms by the two organisations and suggest the need for a re-theorisation of public service algorithms.