Netflix

What are Netflix and MoviePass Doing to Media Businesses?

Amanda and Alex dig into some recent media headlines to discuss whether and how they matter. We work our way through a variety of Netflix stories including its purchase of distribution rights for The Cloverfield Paradox and Annihilation, its original movie strategy (Bright and more), and what all this means for theatrical distribution. We also talk about going to the theater and some new insights about MoviePass, before finishing off with Netflix' big Ryan Murphy deal.

Recode Media Interview with MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe

Global Dynamics of Digital Media

Amanda and Alex explore some of the many ways digital distribution is leading media industries to adjust their global strategies. In particular, we discuss the emergence of services such as Netflix (of course) that are redefining the previously national boundaries of television distribution and discuss some of the complexities for film as well.

The Future of the Television Industry--A Talk by Amanda Lotz

This is the third of four special episodes recorded at the Future of Digital Media Businesses Symposium hosted by the University of Michigan. In this episode, Amanda Lotz, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Michigan and Fellow at the Peabody Media Center, explores how digitization has affected the television industry.

Author Interview: Portals: A Treatise on Internet-Distributed Television

Alex interviews Amanda about her new book that begins to make sense of questions such as "Is Netflix television?" Portals--a short book--explores how television distributed over the internet isn't a "new medium," but a new way to distribute television. The book considers how both the technological affordances of internet distribution and the predominant business model (subscriber funding) allow television to do new things, while in other ways it remains very similar to the business of television we've long known.

Media Business Matters Podcast

Logo by Zack Wall

Logo by Zack Wall

The podcast that explores why recent news in the media business matters to people who love media

You’ve already heard what happened this week, but we take the next steps of explaining why it matters and why you should care. This isn’t a place of pontificating and empty predictions, but of getting to the meat of what is going on in media today and the implications for media businesses and media consumers. Knowledgeable outsiders, Alex, a journalist, and Amanda, a professor, consider emerging changes without a stake in the disruptions to explore why the transformative shifts experienced by media today matter to you.

You can subscribe to our podcast in iTunes and can subscribe directly to our RSS feed by copying that link. Send us your questions or suggested topics at DrTVLotz@gmail.com

About Amanda and Alex

Amanda Lotz is a professor of media studies at the University of Michigan and author of several books about media and media industries including The Television Will Be Revolutionized  and Portals: A Treatise on Internet-Distributed Television.

Alex Intner is a journalist who specializes in reporting on the arts and media industries. You can find his writing in The Michigan Daily, where he was an arts writer and web developer.