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, it 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 produces different norms and strategies compared to previous video businesses. It then investigates Netflix and how its particular blend of characteristics distinguishes it from other subscriber-funded video on demand services. The author 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 the companies and what the future of video may encompass.
The 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.
Author(s): Amanda D. Lotz
Publisher: Polity Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 225
City: Cambridge
Cover
Title page
Copyright
Contents
Figures and Tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Dissecting the SVOD sector
Subscriber-funded streamers are easily confused as being like other video services
Key terms
Internet-distributed video
Commission
Linear v. non-linear/on demand
Content
Scripted fiction
Distribution windows
But-what-about? critiques
Subscriber-Funded Streaming Services are Different from Linear Services
Experience: On Schedules and Viewing Practices
Hegemony of linear norms
The viability of loved by some
Make me feel_____
Building Libraries: Conglomerating Niches and Beyond?
Subscriber Funding: On Success Metrics, Programme Strategies, and Demographics
Content worth paying for
Video without a demographic lens
Licensing, Labour, Regulation, and Recommendation
Producing for SVODs
Regulating SVODs
Recommendation on SVODs
Scale and Specialization
Services with specific libraries
Single-territory SVODs
The Discrepant Field of Global Services1
Part I Conclusion
Netflix is Not Like Other Subscriber-Funded Streaming Video Services
Netflix Content Concepts and Vocabulary
Netflix Library Strategies
Looking past the Top 10
Netflix Content Strategies
Content strategy in practice: considering One Day at a Time
Netflix’s Approach to Being Global
Is Netflix the ‘same’ everywhere?
Why do people subscribe to a service that mostly offers foreign content?
How is Netflix’s content multinational?
Why does Netflix commission content from many places?
Part II Conclusion
Conclusion
Notes
Introduction
Chapter 1 Experience
Chapter 2 Building Libraries
Chapter 3 Subscriber Funding
Chapter 4 Licensing, Labour, Regulation, and Recommendation
Chapter 5 Scale and Specialization
Chapter 6 The Discrepant Field of Global Services
Part I Conclusion
Chapter 7 Netflix Content Concepts and Vocabulary
Chapter 8 Netflix Library Strategies
Chapter 9 Netflix Content Strategies
Chapter 10 Netflix’s Approach to Being Global
References
Index
EULA
