Television, as both a technology and a tool for cultural storytelling, remains as important today as ever, but it has changed in fundamental ways. This edition addresses adjustments throughout the industry wrought by broadband delivered television such as Netflix, YouTube, and cross-platform initiatives like TV Everywhere.
Cable television channels were once the backwater of American television, programming recent and not-so-recent movies and reruns of network shows. Then came La Femme Nikita, OZ, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead. And then, just as prestige cable became a category, came House of Cards and Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, and other Internet distributors of television content. What happened? In We Now Disrupt This Broadcast, Amanda Lotz chronicles the collision of new technologies, changing business strategies, and innovative storytelling that produced an era termed peak TV.
Netflix and Streaming Video is the first book to provide a comprehensive foundation for understanding the business of subscriber-funded streaming video and its implications for the role of these services in culture. Drawing on Lotz's two decades of research, the book highlights the similarities and differences among streaming video services (Netflix; Amazon) and video distribution technologies (broadcast; satellite; internet). Making a number of provocative and thought-provoking arguments, the book first reveals how the reliance on subscriber payment and video on demand produce different norms and strategies compared to previous video businesses. It then investigates Netflix and how its blend of characteristics distinguishes it from other subscriber-funded video on demand services. This book expertly shows that by understanding the underlying economic and technological dynamics of these services (and their differences), it is possible to better assess the actions taken by these companies and what the future of video may encompass. This book is a must-read for students and scholars of Media and Communications Studies as well as those wishing to learn more about Netflix and streaming video services.
Engaging with a variety of shows, including The League, Dexter, and Nip/Tuck, among many others, this title identifies the gradual incorporation of second- wave feminism into prevailing gender norms as the catalyst for the contested masculinities on display in contemporary cable dramas.
"This book tells the story of how the internet and digital technologies disrupted the recorded music, newspaper, film, and television industries"-- Provided by publisher