How big tech became the new titan of television

Hollywood power is in flux, as traditional broadcast and cable networks, which for decades shaped popular culture, try to keep up with technology companies

In Hollywood, the screenwriter William Goldman once observed, nobody knows anything. But that was before technology companies rolled in sure of one thing: to conquer television you have to spend, spend, spend.

The geeks are raiding their digital vaults to transform themselves into lords of entertainment - or at least owners of content - and in the process shape what we watch and how we watch.