Big data and media management

Like many other sectors of economic, political, and cultural life, the media industries are rapidly embracing and exploring the range of analytic and strategic possibilities afforded by big data. Perhaps more so than many other industry sectors, the media industries are particularly well positioned to capture and harness the potential of big data, which offers the opportunity to reverse, or at least diminish, the downward trend in some fields of the media industry. For scholars of media management, these developments herald an exciting-though challenging-time. This chapter seeks to provide an overview of what we know at this point about how big data is impacting media management. This is, needless to say, a very dynamic area of inquiry, so this chapter represents the state of affairs less than a decade into what some have termed the “big data revolution.” This chapter also seeks to put this ongoing transition into its broader historical and institutional context, and to identify areas of concern, as well as avenues and challenges for future research.

Duke Scholars

Author Philip Michael Napoli Sanford School of Public Policy