評論
打印
Business Home entertainment Netflix messes up
商業 家庭娛樂 Netflix這回弄巧成拙了
The terror of the film and television business has become a lot less scary
電影和電視業的擔憂恐懼都顯得微不足道
LAST December Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner's boss, sneered that Netflix threatened media about as much as the Albanian army threatened world peace. Few were fooled. Netflix, which hires out DVDs through the post as well as streaming films and television through the internet, had already impoverished Hollywood by training people to rent DVDs instead of buying them. It was starting to lure people away from pay-television. But then the army began marching in the wrong direction, and its general shot himself in the foot.
在去年12月，時代華納的老板Jeff Bewkes曾嘲笑Netflix就像阿爾巴尼亞軍隊危害了世界和平一樣危害了媒體業。Netflix，一個憑借郵遞服務租售DVD光碟和通過互聯網租售流媒體電影和電視節目的公司，由于使得人們不再購買DVD光碟而只是租借它們，早已讓好萊塢的收入大為縮水。它在開始引誘人們離開付費頻道，但上當者人數寥寥。然而，這支軍隊接下來開始朝著錯誤的方向進軍，這次，這位上將是搬起石頭砸了自己的腳。
On September 1st Netflix began imposing new prices on its 25m subscribers. Americans had been able to pay $9.99 a month for DVDs through the post as well as the right to stream some films and programmes. Netflix would henceforth offer them a choice: $7.99 a month for streaming, or the same price for DVDs. People who wanted both would pay $15.98.
自9月1日起，Netflix開始對2500萬訂閱用戶執行新的收費方案。在這之前，美國人每個月只需支付9.99美元，就能享受郵遞租借DVD光碟和網絡觀賞一些流媒體電影、電視節目的服務。現在，Netflix給了他們一個選擇：要么每個月為流媒體服務支付7.99美元，要么以同樣的價格租借DVD光碟。兩種服務都需要的人則需每月支付15.98美元。
Customers don't like it. They have jammed the firm's switchboard and posted 82,000 largely hostile comments on its Facebook page. Netflix told investors to expect a rare loss of subscribers, driving its shares down. The company's reputation for top-notch customer service has been tarnished. So Netflix's founder and chief executive, Reed Hastings, tried to explain himself—and made matters far worse.
用戶們并不喜歡這個方案。許多人的投訴電話蜂擁而至以致電話系統癱瘓，并且在Netflix的Facebook主頁上留下了多達82000條的惡意評論。Netflix告知投資者們要做好因訂閱用戶人數大幅下降所帶來的股份下滑的準備，這所公司以頂級用戶服務著稱的名譽已經蒙上了污點。因此，Netflix的創立人兼總裁Reed Hastings嘗試為自己的決定辯解——卻只是越描越黑。
On September 18th Mr Hastings explained that the company feared being left behind by technological change, like AOL with its dial-up service. It was separating DVDs from streaming because its future lies in streaming. The DVD-by-post service, he said, would move to a new website, with a new billing system, and be renamed Qwikster. It's an odd name (whatever else the US Postal Service is, it isn't qwik) and a big mistake. As The Economist went to press, Netflix shares were trading around $130—a steep decline from their July peak of $299.
在9月18日，Hastings先生解釋說到他害怕公司會像還在提供撥號上網業務的美國在線服務公司那樣被日新月異的科技變化拋在背后，之所以要把DVD光碟業務從流媒體業務中分離出來是因為這項業務的未來存在于流媒體技術之中。他說到，郵遞租借DVD光碟業務將會被移至一個新的網站，擁有新的支付系統，并被重新命名為Qwikster。這真是一個怪名字（不管美國郵政系統該叫什么，都不會叫"qwik"）和一個大錯誤。在本文交付印刷之時，Netflix的股票成交價大概在130美元左右——與他們在7月份299美元封頂的價格相比下了一個大滑坡。
Netflix has made a tactical error and treated its customers shabbily. It has also jumped too hastily into the future—as if Renault were to declare that electric cars are the future and rename its petrol-car division Qwikmobile.
Netflix不僅犯了策略性錯誤，而且對待用戶們糟糕透頂。另外，它對未來的規劃也太過急進——好比說雷諾公司對外宣稱電動車是未來發展的方向，然后就把他們的汽車部門改名為Qwikmobile。
Worst of all, Netflix has disregarded a big strategic advantage. DVDs may be old media, but they come with strong legal protections. As soon as a DVD is released by a Hollywood studio, roughly four months after the film appears in cinemas, Netflix can start renting it. To stream a film via the internet, in contrast, Netflix must strike an agreement with the studio or TV firm that owns it. As Netflix has become richer and scarier, negotiations have become harder. The company must wait eight or nine years to stream many studio films. A few media firms refuse to sell any streaming rights at all.
而最糟糕的是，Netflix忽略了一個極其重要的戰略優勢。DVD光碟或許是老式媒介，但是它們有著強力的法律保護措施。當一張DVD光碟從好萊塢片場發布那刻起，大概只要在電影院上映后四個月，Netflix就可以開始租售。相比之下，如果Netflix要通過互聯網來播放流媒體電影，則必須先和持有它的片場或電視公司簽訂協議。隨著Netflix變得越來越有錢，越來越膽小，協商日趨困難。公司必須要等到8到9年才能播放許多片場的流媒體電影，一些媒體公司更是拒絕出售任何播放流媒體的權利。
When Netflix combined DVDs and streaming, it offered both a vast selection of up-to-date content and the prospect of instant gratification. By forcing customers to choose between the two, it has revealed the weaknesses of both of its offerings. Netflix isn't like the Albanian army—it is far more dangerous than that. But it seems to have trained its guns against itself.
在Netflix將DVD光碟與流媒體電影電視兩種服務結合在一起時，它不僅提供了大量可選購的最新內容，而且很容易使用戶感到滿意。然而Netflix強迫用戶其二而擇一的行為，將兩者的弱點都暴露了出來。Netflix其實并不像阿爾巴尼亞軍隊——畢竟他們危險多了。但是這回，看起來他們是把槍口對準了自己。
