Media Programming in an Era of Big Data

Abstract

While scholars are producing a growing body of work that speculates on the theoretical significance of “algorithmic culture,” where the role of human agents in recommending and sharing cultural objects are replaced by machines, very little of this work examines the algorithms themselves and how the different kinds of knowledge they produce affect existing cultural practices, including production practices. In this essay, I use the original Netflix series House of Cards to think through some of the ways that Big Data is influencing the television industry and some of the questions that it raises for both the study and operation of the media industries. Ultimately, I argue that media industry scholarship, which is rooted in methods of observation, interview, and ethnography, could add a great deal to ongoing scholarly discussions of algorithmic culture.