The Netflix Effect: Technology and Entertainment in the 21st Century

Description

Netflix is the definitive media company of the 21st century. It was among the first to parlay new Internet technologies into a successful business model, and in the process it changed how consumers access film and television. It is now one of the leading providers of digitally delivered media content and is continually expanding access across a host of platforms and mobile devices. Despite its transformative role, however, Netflix has drawn very little critical attention-far less than competitors such as YouTube, Apple, Amazon, Comcast, and HBO. This collection addresses this gap, as the essays are designed to critically explore the breadth and diversity of Netflix's effect from a variety of different scholarly perspectives, a necessary approach considering the hybrid nature of Netflix, its inextricable links to new models of media production, distribution, viewer engagement and consumer behavior, its relationship to existing media conglomerates and consumer electronics, its capabilities as a web-based service provider and data network, and its reliance on a broader technological infrastructure.

Kevin McDonald teaches in the Communication Studies Department at California State University, Northridge, USA. His research focuses on film theory, contemporary Hollywood, and media industries. He is author of Film Theory: The Basics. Daniel Smith-Rowsey is a visiting lecturer at Sacramento City College, USA, and award-winning filmmaker. His book Star Actors in the Hollywood Renaissance was nominated for a 2014 First Book Award by the Society of Cinema and Media Studies. He has been published in various collections and in Bright Lights Film Journal, Jura Gentium, Newsweek, and Der Spiegel.

Netflix is at the center of current debates about media distribution and consumption in the era of digital delivery across the globe. McDonald and Smith-Rowsey have assembled a lively, compelling, and wide-ranging collection of essays that tackle this rapidly evolving field from a variety of perspectives. The Netflix Effect will prove to a valuable resource in navigating the media industries during this extended time of transition. * Chuck Tryon, Associate Professor, Department of English, Fayetteville State University, USA and author of On-Demand Culture and Reinventing Cinema * Over the past decade, streaming services such as Netflix have shaped how we engage with media in a multi-screen, multi-platform, socially networked digital environment. The Netflix Effect's collection of insightful essays by academics from a range of disciplines puts a spotlight on this trend. Discussing Netflix's effects on technology, entertainment, industry, and society, this book speaks to some of the most pressing issues in the current media studies agenda. A must-read for anyone interested in net neutrality, distribution intermediaries, binge-watching, or the ideological underpinnings of the digital economy. * Patrick Vonderau, Professor, Department for Media Studies, Stockholm University, Sweden * Ranging from politics, economics and technology to transnational distribution, audience agency, and binge watching, the chapters in this collection reveal the diverse value of Netflix as a case study as well as speaks to the dramatic shifts taking place within screen culture. It is an excellent and worthwhile contribution to debates that are increasingly central to media industry and audience research. * Elizabeth Evans, Assistant Professor in Film and Television Studies, Department of Culture, Film and Media, University of Nottingham, UK * A comprehensive multidimensional analysis of Netflix in relation to the convergence of technology and media content as well as the provision and consumption of such content * Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly *