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.

About the Author
Amanda D. Lotz is a Professor in the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology.

Reviews

'In the chaotic world of television, Amanda Lotz has a keen ability to separate noise from signal. Here she drills into the factors and functions that make subscription streaming services distinctive from one another and put Netflix in a class of its own. This is a must-read for students of and professionals in the TV industry.'
Evan Shapiro, Producer, Media Cartographer, and Professor at Fordham University and NYU

'Amanda Lotz is unparalleled at addressing our most vital questions regarding the global streaming video landscape. With Netflix and Streaming Video, Lotz has also introduced a blog-incubated mode of academic query as essential, iterative, asynchronous, and disruptive as the industries she studies.'
David Craig, USC Annenberg

'...showcases the wide variety of logics used by film and television producers and distributors today... This book seeks to offer valuable insights to media industry workers and aspirants seeking to understand recent changes in the industry. It will also inform television and media industry scholars including those who research video games, e-books, music, and the many other media industries that are experimenting with subscription forms of funding and distribution.'
Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies

'Lotz dispels popular myths about Netflix, for example when she compares the different success logics of classic linear television and Netflix's streaming television. Lotz succeeds in very accurately working out the specifics of the various services and illustrates in detail how Netflix differs from other streaming providers as well as from advertising-financed linear television.'
Zeitschrift fu r Medienwissenschaft / Journal for Media Studies

Book Information
ISBN 9781509552955
Author Amanda D. Lotz
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 272g
Dimensions(mm) 213mm * 137mm * 15mm