|
????2009年末，《華爾街日報》（Wall Street Journal ）的一篇報道曾經令電視業(yè)不寒而栗。 ????《華爾街日報》當時報道稱，據了解蘋果公司（Apple）談判事宜內幕的多位匿名人士透露，哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）和美國廣播公司（ABC）正在慎重考慮史蒂夫?喬布斯的提議，在互聯(lián)網上提供電視訂閱服務。 ????消息人士稱，其中一項可能的訂閱方案每月收費30美元，沒有廣告，囊括了多家頂級有線電視和廣播電視運營商——很像蘋果提出的所謂“最好的電視服務”方案。 ????《華爾街日報》稱，雖然蘋果希望在2010年就能啟動這項服務，但方案遭遇了電視行業(yè)的強烈反對，尤其是那些賺得盆滿缽滿的有線運營商。它們每年從廣告和有線訂閱費中獲利上百億美元，而電視訂戶為了能收看到自己的喜歡節(jié)目，不得不為了屈指可數(shù)的幾個節(jié)目就為整個頻道買單。 ????一位媒體高管當時對《華爾街日報》稱：“這就好比為了開源，就在水桶上打洞?！?/p> ????由于以上種種原因，蘋果的電視訂閱服務未能在2010年啟動。當然，2011年看來也不可能了。 ????但喬布斯的理念并未被人遺忘。本周三，投資公司Sterne Agee的吳肖（音譯）在致客戶的報告中稱，雖然蘋果目前已經擁有了蘋果電視和iTunes中可供購買的豐富資源，但這一方案仍然欠缺實時電視播放功能。 ????吳肖指出，要彌補這個空白，一種方案是讓用戶訂閱衛(wèi)星或有線電視服務，也就是電視業(yè)現(xiàn)行的做法。 ????而另一種方案——吳肖稱之為“更具革命性、顛覆性和差異化的方式”是，通過互聯(lián)網發(fā)送內容，它非常接近喬布斯當初提出的“最好的電視服務”。 ????吳肖寫道：“我們總聽到人們再說，蘋果希望能向觀眾提供自行定制選擇節(jié)目的服務。例如，只要支付訂閱費用，就能自行選擇頻道和節(jié)目。顯然，從授權角度來說，這種模式要復雜得多。但我們認為，此舉將顛覆整個電視行業(yè)，讓蘋果在競爭中再次占得先機?！?/p> ????譯者：向杭 |
????In late 2009, the Wall Street Journal ran a story that sent shivers through the television industry. ????Quoting unnamed sources familiar with Apple's (AAPL) negotiations, the Journal reported that CBS (CBS) and ABC (DIS) were seriously considering Steve Jobs' plan to offer TV subscriptions over the Internet. ????One form those subscriptions might take, according to these sources, was a $30-per-month package of advertising-free shows from a bundle of top cable and broadcast networks -- something Apple was calling the "best of television." ????Although the Journal reported that Apple was hoping to launch the service in 2010, it met fierce resistance, particularly from cable companies that reap tens of billions each year in advertising dollars and in the fees subscribers pay for access to channels they don't want in order to watch the handful of shows they do. ????"You don't want to shoot a hole in the bucket to create another revenue stream," one media executive told the Journal at the time. ????Apple's TV subscription service did not launch in 2010, obviously. Or in 2011, for that matter. ????But the idea has not gone away. In a note to clients issued Wednesday, Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu noted that what's missing from Apple's current TV offering -- Apple TV coupled with the content available for purchase on iTunes -- is access to live broadcast television. ????One way to get that access, he writes, is to have users subscribe to satellite or cable TV services, the way they do now. ????But another way -- in his words "a more revolutionary, disruptive and differentiated way" -- would be to offer the content via the Internet, in a subscription service that sounds a lot like Jobs' original "best of television" idea. ????"We continue to hear," Wu writes, "what AAPL would love to do is offer users the ability to choose their own customized programming, i.e., whichever channels/shows they want for a monthly subscription fee. This is obviously much more complicated from a licensing standpoint. And in our view, would change the game for television and give AAPL a big leg-up against the competition." |
相關稿件
最新文章