Streaming, sharing, stealing : big data and the future of entertainment

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 gathered about subscribers' preferences, ordered two seasons without seeing a pilot, and uploaded the first thirteen episodes all at once for viewers to watch whenever they wanted on the devices of their choice. In this book, Michael Smith and Rahul Telang, experts on entertainment analytics, show how the success of 'House of Cards' upended the film and TV industries - and how companies like Amazon and Apple are changing the rules in other entertainment industries, notably publishing and music.