Streaming, Sharing, Stealing
Big Data and the Future of Entertainment
by Michael D. Smith
Reading Profile
Should I read this?
The book reads like a sharp industry primer, arguing that familiar TV viewing habits connect to economic and incentive shifts created by platforms. Early chapters use the Netflix House of Cards example to set the stage; later sections present arguments about how platform data, pricing, piracy, and distribution influence what gets produced and monetized. Main limitation: the tone stays analytical and business-focused, so pricing and market-mechanics sections can feel dry or repetitive for readers seeking cultural narrative or creator-centered detail.
Read this if...
- •a product manager at a streaming startup trying to justify a binge-release vs episodic rollout — offers concrete arguments about viewer behavior and platform incentives to ground that case to leadership
- •a media-studies graduate student drafting a paper on industrial change in television — supplies industry examples and economic reasoning you can cite when contrasting old commissioning with approaches informed by platform metrics
- •a programming executive at a legacy cable network arguing budget priorities — lays out the economic logic behind hits, long-tail economics, and how platform data shifts commissioning risk
Skip this if...
- •you'll likely put it down when the prose shifts into pricing models, piracy numbers, and economic mechanics — those middle sections are where attention often drops
- •annoying if you prefer lively profiles of creators or on-set storytelling rather than industry economics and platform strategy
- •lose interest if you want hands-on advice or practical how-to steps — the book explains incentives and outcomes but lacks step-by-step implementation guidance
Traditional network television Programming, has always followed the same script: executives approve a pilot, order a trial number of episodes, and broadcast them, expecting viewers to watch a given show on their television sets at the same time every week. But then came Netflix's "House of Cards." Netflix gauged the show's potential from data it had...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- a product manager at a streaming startup trying to justify a binge-release vs episodic rollout — offers concrete arguments about viewer behavior and platform incentives to ground that case to leadership
- a media-studies graduate student drafting a paper on industrial change in television — supplies industry examples and economic reasoning you can cite when contrasting old commissioning with approaches informed by platform metrics
- a programming executive at a legacy cable network arguing budget priorities — lays out the economic logic behind hits, long-tail economics, and how platform data shifts commissioning risk
- you'll likely put it down when the prose shifts into pricing models, piracy numbers, and economic mechanics — those middle sections are where attention often drops
- annoying if you prefer lively profiles of creators or on-set storytelling rather than industry economics and platform strategy
- lose interest if you want hands-on advice or practical how-to steps — the book explains incentives and outcomes but lacks step-by-step implementation guidance
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
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Why recommended
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in Most Recommended Books, Technology, and Business.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Erik Brynjolfsson
“Here's a great book on the future of digital entertainment by Mike Smith and Rahul Telang”
Appears In
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How recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.