流媒體電視服務 未來如何發展?

Consumers should be very happy with the news that Apple could soon sell a streaming-TV service that will offer a number of networks including CBS, ABC, Fox and ESPN.

對於蘋果(Apple)可能很快就會提供流媒體電視服務的消息，消費者想必會非常高興。該服務將提供大量廣播網的節目，包括CBS、ABC、Fox及ESPN。

Apple’s interest in this area could help provide at least some people with more alternatives to expensive bundles of channels sold by cable-TV companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Several other companies like Dish Network and CBS have already started catering to the demand for smaller TV bundles, and others like HBO are planning to enter the market soon. The editorial board wrote favorably about the development of Internet-based TV services in October.

蘋果對這個領域的興趣，可能有助於讓至少一部分人，在除康卡斯特(Comcast)和時代華納有線(Time Warner Cable)等有線電視公司高價銷售的捆綁頻道之外，有更多其他選擇。另外幾家公司，如迪什網絡(Dish Network)和CBS，已開始迎合對精簡捆綁套餐的需求，還有HBO等其他一些公司正在計劃馬上進入這個市場。去年10月，本報編委會曾撰文探討基於互聯網的電視服務的發展，並表示看好。

While it is hard to know just how successful these services will ultimately be, there is clearly an appetite for them. Dish has signed up at least 100,000 customers for its Sling TV service after a little more than a month, ReCode reported in early March. And the top executive of CBS said last week that the company’s streaming service already had more subscribers than Sling.

儘管這些服務最終會有多成功還很難說，但顯然它們是有市場的。據ReCode在3月初的報道，僅過了一個多月出頭，就已經有至少10萬用戶簽約購買迪什的Sling TV服務。CBS的首席執行官則在上週表示，他們的流媒體服務用戶已經超過了Sling。

Even though we have few details about what Apple is planning, the company’s involvement will surely bolster this new business since so many Americans already use its phones, its tablets and its streaming device, Apple TV.

儘管我們對蘋果的計劃的細節知之甚少，但該公司的參與必然會推動這項新興業務，因爲美國已經有這麼多人在使用蘋果的手機、平板和流媒體設備Apple TV了。

While Apple hasn’t said anything publicly about its plans for a TV service, The Times and other news organizations have reported that the new streaming service might not include programming from NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. Apple and Comcast were in talks to start a streaming service together, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal last year, but the two companies were not able to reach a deal.

蘋果尚未公開談及自己的電視服務計劃，但根據時報和其他一些新聞機構的報道，這項新的流媒體服務可能不包括康卡斯特旗下的NBC環球公司(NBCUniversal)的節目。從《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)去年的一篇報道來看，蘋果和康卡斯特曾就合作成立一個流媒體服務平臺進行過商談。不過，雙方未能達成協議。

The growth of Internet-based TV services could be a competitive threat to big cable companies like Comcast. Executives at Comcast might have reasoned that they would only hurt their own cable business by licensing content to Apple.

基於互聯網的電視服務的增長，可能會對康卡斯特這樣的大型有線電視公司構成競爭威脅。康卡斯特的高管可能認爲，授權蘋果使用自己的節目內容只會損害他們的有線電視業務。

Of course, we don’t know what really happened between Comcast and Apple. But officials at the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, who are reviewing Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable, should ask the company whether it has withheld content from streaming-TV businesses, and if so, why. After all, if Comcast acquires Time Warner Cable it will become both the country’s dominant cable company and the largest provider of broadband service, which customers need if they want to watch their favorite shows over the Internet.

當然，我們並不知道康卡斯特和蘋果之間到底發生了什麼。但正在審覈康卡斯特收購時代華納有線電視公司一事的聯邦通信委員會(Federal Communications Commission)及司法部下屬的反壟斷部門的官員，應該詢問康卡斯特否拒絕向流媒體電視服務提供內容，還有，如果答案是肯定的，原因又是什麼。畢竟，如果收購了時代華納有線，康卡斯特將不僅成爲美國市場上的頭號有線電視公司，也將是美國最大的寬帶服務供應商。說白了，消費者需要有寬帶服務，才能通過互聯網觀看自己喜歡的節目。