Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

As patterns of media use become more integrated with mobile technologies and multiple screens, a new mode of viewer engagement has emerged in the form of connected viewing, which allows for an array of new relationships between audiences and media texts in the digital space. This exciting new collection brings together twelve original essays that critically engage with the socially-networked, multi-platform, and cloud-based world of today, examining the connected viewing phenomenon across television, film, video games, and social media.

The result is a wide-ranging analysis of shifting business models, policy matters, technological infrastructure, new forms of user engagement, and other key trends affecting screen media in the digital era. Connected Viewing contextualizes the dramatic transformations taking place across both media industries and national contexts, and offers students and scholars alike a diverse set of methods and perspectives for studying this critical moment in media culture.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Figures and Tables (p. vii)
• Acknowledgments (p. ix)
• Introduction: Mapping Connections (p. 1)
• Part I Industry Structure and Strategies (p. 17)
• 1 Regulating Connected Viewing: Media Pipelines and Cloud Policy (p. 19)
• 2 Second-Screen Theory: From the Democratic Surround to the Digital Enclosure (p. 40)
• 3 Windows into the Digital World: Distributor Strategies and Consumer Choice in an Era of Connected Viewing (p. 62)
• 4 The Personal Media Collection in an Era of Connected Viewing (p. 79)
• Part II Technology and Platforms (p. 97)
• 5 Beyond Piracy: Understanding Digital Markets (p. 99)
• 6 Transparent Intermediaries: Building the Infrastructures of Connected Viewing (p. 124)
• 7 American Media and China's Blended Public Sphere (p. 144)
• 8 Online Distribution of Film and Television in the UK: Behavior, Taste, and Value (p. 158)
• Part III Content and Engagement (p. 181)
• 9 Connected Viewing, Connected Capital: Fostering Gameplay Across Screens (p. 183)
• 10 Connected Viewing on the Second Screen: The Limitations of the Living Room (p. 202)
• 11 Streaming U: College Students and Connected Viewing (p. 217)
• 12 The Contours of On-demand Viewing (p. 234)
• Contributors (p. 255)
• Index (p. 261)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Connected Viewing is a series of essays addressing the interaction between the media industry, the online distribution and delivery industries, internetworked media consumers, and a media environment that spans multiple media and devices, often at the same time and all in a global context. The spread of topics covering the full path from media creation to media consumption provides a comprehensive picture often missing in longer books on related topics. The book pitches itself as an introductory text for use in courses dealing with contemporary media studies and as such is a strong work. The essays within are well referenced and written by authors who have a diversity of opinions on the topics discussed, such as net neutrality and media piracy, but they express those opinions with moderation, favoring facts over polemics. This makes it easier for students to consider the diversity of viewpoints on the topics. Most of the material in the book is current, treating research, technologies, and media trends in the years immediately prior to publication. This makes it an excellent snapshot of the world of media technologies from 2010 to 2013. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. P. L. Kantor formerly, Southern Vermont College