Net flix’s1 Online Business Model:a Mistake, or the Future of Entertainment?

Doug Mataconis

∷晨尘 选 刘宇佳 注

相比过去坐在电视或电脑前，一集一集地等待电视节目而言，奈飞公司推出的线上经营模式令人们可以一下子看到电视剧的所有故事集，无需再焦急地等待接下来的情节上演。这样的观看模式符合当今的电视娱乐要求吗？真的能够运营下去吗？一系列的问题等待我们前去探索。

The rise of Net flix as a source not only of movies and television shows that were previously either unavailable or only available on DVD, but also a source of original programming such asHouse of CardsandOrange Is the New Blackhas led to the rise of the phenomenon of binge watching.2. House of Cards: 《纸牌屋》，改编自英国同名小说，是Netflix首部原创剧集，获美国电影电视金球奖；Orange Is the New Black: 《女子监狱》，描述了主人公因结识毒贩而犯下错误，十年后进入联邦女子监狱服刑15个月的生活；binge: 狂欢，放纵。Since Net flix releases new seasons of its original shows all at once, it’s possible for a subscriber to watch the show however they wish.3. release: 发布；subscriber: 订阅者。You can watch one show at a time at whatever pace you wish,kind of like the way traditional television shows are released, you can watch a few at time, or you can watch them all at once in a sleep-deprived weekend-long marathon.4. deprived: 被剥夺的；marathon: 马拉松。It’s the last option which has become the cultural phenomenon, it seems, especially this February when the second season ofHouse of Cardswas released at the start of what was, at least for most people who work in Washington, D.C., a three day weekend.

《权利的游戏》

Obviously, the binge watching option wouldn’t be possible if Net flix released new episodes5. episode:（电视剧、电影的）一集、一段。over a longer period. There does seem to be a clear disadvantage, though it may not relate directly to immediate revenue. One of the chief drivers for movies and television programs is word of mouth.6. 口头宣传是电影和电视节目的主要宣传手段之一。You need to generate buzz7. buzz: 嗡嗡声。and get people talking if you want to get large numbers of viewers. It’s a commodity that no amount of advertising dollars can match.8. 这种“商品”是再多的广告费用都无法匹及的。no amount of:即使再大（或再多）的……也不……。And the television shows that really generate this buzz do it week after week. One of the first shows that comes to mind isGame of Thrones9. Game of Thrones: 《权利的游戏》，改编自美国作家乔治. R. R. 马丁的奇幻小说《冰与火之歌》系列，于2011年在HBO电视台首播。. It’s a huge success for HBO10. HBO: 即Home Box Of fice，家庭影院频道，是美国一家有线电视网络媒体公司，主要播放合作电影公司的电影及原创的迷你剧和连续剧。, and every Monday morning people wind up talking to others about what happened on this week’s episode. Later in the week, speculation often crops up over what will or won’t happen next,11. speculation: 推测；crop up: 突然出现。who will get killed off or how Tyrion is going to get his butt out of a jam this week.

That sort of continual speculation leads to huge in-person12. in-person: 现场的。and online fan bases spreading the word and attracting new viewers. Fan forums crop up where strangers from around the world can debate, praise or curse the show in posts which go on for hundreds or thousands of comments.And this is precisely what’s missing withOrange Is the New Black,Lilyhammer13. Lilyhammer:《莉莉海默》，是奈飞公司进军影视制作行业推出的首部作品。and the other shows. People binge watch the entire season as fast as they can and then it’s done. They may go into the of fice and chat about it for a few days, but after that, what’s left to say? The show is over for at least a long span of months or perhaps permanently14. permanently: 长期地，永久地。.

The new model also creates some challenges for anyone who wants to write about a show. Aside from the problem of spoiling episodes, it’s hard to write about any given episodes if you haven’t watched all of the episodes(because someone will always point out a plot twist two episodes later that seems to undercut your point).15. 除了破坏剧情这一问题，如果事先没有看过所有情节，也很难对已有故事进行编写。（这是因为有人会指出：所写的情节与之后的两集故事不符，看似有损写作水准。）

However, the best answer to the question of why Net flix follows the“release everything at once” strategy, of course, is that they have made some determination that this is the model that best suits their business interests. Unlike traditional television, even pay networks like HBO and Showtime16. Showtime: 美国“映时”频道，用户可以通过该频道收看电影、原创电视剧、成人节目和拳击赛等，与HBO电视台成为竞争对手。, Net flix doesn’t have to worry about a particular shows ratings from week to week. Instead, the numbers that matters most to them is subscribers. The more subscribers they have, the more revenue their bringing in. There are no advertisers to please. There isn’t the same kind of competition for nightly viewers that even networks like HBO no doubt pay attention to on a regular basis. Given all of that, there’s no reason for Net flix to play the “come back next week” game the way traditional networks do. Instead, one of the bene fits that it offers to subscribers is the ability to watch these new series on their own schedule, and it really doesn’t matter if that happens all at once or a little bit at a time.

Instead, Net flix, like Amazon Instant Video17. Amazon Instant Video: 亚马逊即时视频，是亚马逊在美国提供的互联网视频点播服务。, is aiming for any entirely different model of “television” viewing where what you watch isn’t connected to the time of day,the time of year, or even where you happen to be any given time of the day. Want to watch a few episodes ofMad Men, or an entire season ofThe West Wing?18. Mad Men: 美剧《广告狂人》，该剧大胆地描述了美国广告业黄金时代残酷的商业竞争，连续四年夺得艾美奖剧情类电视剧奖；The West Wing:《白宫风云》，又名《白宫群英》，剧情围绕总统及其幕僚们在白宫的工作与情感生活展开。No problem,it’s right there waiting for you. Thanks to Net flix and Amazon, viewers are no longer at the mercy of19. at the mercy of: 受……支配，听凭。network schedules, time zones, or remembering to program the DVR. It represents a small portion of “television” viewing today, but it’s only likely to expand in the future. While we may never actually see the end of the scripted network drama,it seems inevitable that viewing habits are going to change even more than they already have, and the more traditional networks are going to change the way that they present their programming as well. Net flix and Amazon are simply on the leading edge of that new trend.

There is, perhaps, something that we’ll be losing with this new type of programming.It used to be the case that television viewing was, in some sense, a communal20. communal: 公共的。exercise.Especially in the days before cable21. cable: 有线电视。became a big thing, most Americans were watching the same things on the same networks at basically the same time. These were shared cultural experiences that helped de fine the eras that they were a part of. Today, it’s a lot harder to have those conversations because we’re no longer watching basically the same stuff. That world is gone, though, and there’s no bringing it back. We’re all watching different things now, and Net flix and Amazon are simply following that trend.

《女子监狱》

《纸牌屋》