The M.E.T. Effect (the convergence of media, entertainment and tech) was on full display at the 2017 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week — from tech for amateur YouTubers to today’s livestream from the NASA International Space Station.

One standout example of big data’s success is the story around Netflix. “We see more data-based decision making,” said Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick) (pictured, left), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio. Frick and co-host Lisa Martin (@Luccazara) (pictured, right) closed out this week’s NAB Show by analyzing how technology is transforming media. (*Disclosure below.)

Old school filmmakers may balk at the amount of data Netflix uses in its decisions, but that formula has put them ahead of many major Hollywood studios.

“The great advantage that Netflix had over the original cinemas or HBO is they actually knew who was watching — they had profiled them. How long did they watch, when did they change channels, what were their similar likes?” Frick stated.

And content producers don’t need Netflix’s budget to take advantage of these tools. Low-cost cloud and audience-data analytics now empower amateur content creators on a growing number of platforms.

“The amazing amount of power that can be delivered via cloud to any individual or any small company [can] really be a game changer in terms of capabilities, where before they would have to make these tremendous investments,” Frick said.

YouTube goes to space

On the other end of the spectrum, relatively small, simple content technologies can be used for big purposes by even bigger entities, such as NASA.

The main event at this year’s NAB show was a live 4K video streamed from the International Space Station 250 miles above the earth. TheCUBE hosted a special interview with NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson to discuss how media technology might raise people’s interest in space.

“It makes space exploration so much more tangible, because now there’s these incredible videos and images that can be transmitted down to earth in real time,” Martin stated.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of the NAB Show. (*Disclosure: Western Digital is sponsoring theCUBE’s coverage at the show. Neither Western Digital nor other sponsors have editorial influence on content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE