The ABC is set to morph into a Netflix-style streaming service from as early as next year, and to use data and analytics to track which actors and stories resonate with audiences, board chairman Justin Milne has revealed.

Delivering the Hector Crawford memorial speech at the Screen Forever conference on Wednesday, Mr Milne avoided mentioning Netflix and streaming rival Stan by name, but did point to Amazon as a model for what the ABC is likely to evolve into.

"These days consumers know what technology can provide so they want every movie, radio program, newspaper article, book and TV show available to them all the time," he said.

"They want them wherever they are and on any device they choose. They want the technology to remember where they're up to so they can, say, stop reading a book at page 135 on an iPad and then pick it up on their phone on the train the next day at the same page. And, of course, they want that for movies and podcasts.