????本周二，喜劇演員路易斯?C?K表示，他將自己最新的單人表演特別節(jié)目視頻以每部5美元的價格，直接賣給公眾。不到3天，銷售收入就高達50萬美元。媒體公司著實應(yīng)該為這一現(xiàn)象感到寢食難安，因為這不僅是媒體發(fā)行的未來發(fā)展趨勢，也正日益成為現(xiàn)實。各位是否還記得，15年前，人們曾大談特談互聯(lián)網(wǎng)將成為重要的賺錢工具？現(xiàn)在，轉(zhuǎn)眼之間一切已經(jīng)成真。

????媒體公司的現(xiàn)狀是：他們毫無個性可言。正因如此，地方報紙才會乘虛而入，大量刊登無傷大雅的煽情作品；出于同樣的原因，阿拉巴馬州伯明翰市的“地方”商業(yè)廣播與加里福尼亞州伯克利市的商業(yè)廣播聽起來同樣如出一轍；而且，路易斯?C?K這樣杰出的喜劇演員根本無法在網(wǎng)絡(luò)電視上出人頭地。事實上，公眾對他鐘愛有加就是因為他的表演特點，但在網(wǎng)絡(luò)高管們的管理之下，其特點已蕩然無存。

????即使時代華納集團（Time Warner）旗下的家庭影院頻道（HBO）等傾向于個性導(dǎo)演的市場，實際上也充當(dāng)著藝術(shù)家和觀眾之間的過濾器。因此，從生意的角度說，它導(dǎo)致了許多弊端。路易斯?C?K本周對《新鮮空氣節(jié)目》【Fresh Air，美國全國公共廣播電臺（NPR）時長一小時的談話節(jié)目——譯注】主持人特里?格羅斯表示，在傳統(tǒng)的喜劇特別節(jié)目管理模式下，他只能拿到出場費，但分不到一分錢的銷售利潤，而后者才是大頭。他說，特別節(jié)目播出后：“他們（媒體公司）會通過視頻、iTunes、Netflix、以及DVD等渠道進行再傳播，從中贏利。我本應(yīng)分得一部分利潤，但我從未收到過喜劇特別節(jié)目劇組寄來的任何支票。向來如此，那樣的事從來沒發(fā)生過。”

????但是這一次，一個子兒也不少。周三上午，這名喜劇演員在Twitter上稱，其最新特別節(jié)目的下載量已突破13萬大關(guān)，總收入為65萬美元。在其個人網(wǎng)站上，路易斯?C?K還對相應(yīng)的資金情況進行了分解：制作節(jié)目共動用了6部攝影機，還租用了燈塔劇院（Beacon Theater），而演出門票銷售收入基本可以沖抵制作費和場地租賃費等成本（節(jié)目由他本人自導(dǎo)自演，視頻由其自行編輯，但水準(zhǔn)堪與任何“專業(yè)公司”制作的特別節(jié)目媲美）。與視頻銷售相關(guān)的費用微乎其微：每個視頻的銷售邊際成本幾乎為零。此外，不同于傳統(tǒng)媒體銷售，這里得固定成本也少之又少。這種銷售模式無需龐大的營銷開支；無需專業(yè)團隊；亦無需支付媒體公司的經(jīng)紀(jì)費，不管他們到底能做些什么。（迄今，他已經(jīng)凈賺近20萬美元。）

????Comedian Louis CK said on Tuesday that he had taken in $500,000 in less than three days from selling his latest standup special directly to the public at $5 a pop. This should make media companies nervous because this is the future -- and increasingly, the present -- of media distribution. Remember all that stuff people were saying 15 years ago about the Internet's capacity for disintermediation? It's all coming true now.

????Here's the thing about media companies: they have trouble with edge. That's why local newspapers often churn out inoffensive mush. It's why "local" commercial radio sounds precisely the same in Birmingham, Ala. as it does in Berkeley, Calif. And it's why a brilliant comedian like Louis CK couldn't make it on network television despite two attempts: network executives filed his edges completely away, even though people like him precisely for his edges.

????Even auteur-friendly outlets like Time Warner's (TWX) HBO act as filters between artist and audience. In that case, much of the downside comes on the business end. Louis CK told Terry Gross on Fresh Air this week that with traditional comedy specials, he gets his fee, but never a cut of the aftermarket, where the real money is made. After the special airs, he said, "then they put it on video, you know, on iTunes (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX) and DVD, and then they go try to make a profit with it. You're supposed to participate in that profit, but I've never seen a check from a comedy special. They're just -- it's never -- it never ends up being that."

????Here, it's all that. On Wednesday morning, the comedian tweeted that sales of the new special had reached 130,000 downloads, for a gross of $650,000. On his Web site, he broke down the finances: the cost of producing the six-camera shoot and renting the Beacon Theater was basically covered by ticket sales (he directed the thing himself and edited the video -- which looks as good as any "professionally" produced special). Expenses associated with distributing the video were minimal -- there is a near-zero marginal cost for each video sold. And unlike traditional media, very little in the way of fixed costs. No big marketing expenses, no focus groups, no paying media-company middlemen to do ... whatever it is they do. (So far, he's netted about $200,000.)