视频网站YouTube推出新的网络电视服务

视频网站YouTube推出新的网络电视服务

来源：BBC新闻

作者：Dave Lee

2017年3月1日

编译：赵瑜 （浙江大学传媒学院教授）

YouTube已经推出了一项电视订阅服务，每月只需花费35美元。YouTube TV将提供包括ABC、CBS、福克斯、NBC及迪士尼旗下ESPN在内的超过40个网络电视台。该服务还包括一个“云DVR”，帮助用户记录和储存程序。

一位分析师告诉英国广播公司，YouTube对传统的有线电视公司构成了很大的威胁。

“YouTube在视频品牌方面树立了良好的口碑，它的应用程序无处不在。” 美国市场研究公司eMarketer的保罗·弗尔纳说道。

为了YouTube的一代

这个公告是YouTube的洛杉矶工作室发布的，这里提供了最大量的可在网络上免费获得的明星原创内容。

这只是整体计划的一部分，但是最重要的一部分规划，这些细节会很大程度上让有线电视公司感到紧张，它包含了顶级渠道，也包括了那些现场体育直播。

“该服务是为在线视频的年轻粉丝量身定制的，”YouTube产品管理总监克里斯蒂安·奥斯特林写道，“那些没有承诺他们想看什么、什么时候想看、想如何看的粉丝人群。”

该服务将在今年春末作为独立的应用程序在智能电视和手机设备上推出，但有一个显著的缺点是还没有包括一些主要的电视台频道，类似HBO电视网、美国有线电视新闻网和《行尸走肉》系列的播出电视台AMC。

此外，YouTube目前并没有在美国以外的地区提供类似服务的计划。

长期的挑战

YouTube也在逐渐被卷入日益拥挤的市场，其他几个比较知名的流媒体服务提供商已经在提供比传统的有线电视套餐更便宜的服务。最值得注意的是，隶属于AT&T（美国第二大移动运营商）的卫星电视服务商DirectTV，在互联网上提供了超过120个频道，但其每月70美元的付费是相当高的。

卫星电视运营商也在稳定性上遭受了猛烈攻击，在本月初，这项服务可能遇到了可想象到的状况中最糟糕的时刻，即观众错过了超级碗（美国国家美式足球联盟的年度冠军赛）的大结局，这可能是最近的美国体育大事件中最戏剧性的一件。

“谷歌大量的基础设施和专业知识能够让他们占据一些优势”，美国市场研究公司eMarketer的Mr Verna说。

YouTube虽然已经拥有技术知识和基础设施，但却从不意味着就可以让预想的事情都进展得很顺利，因为这不仅仅关乎于提供大规模技术，还关乎于YouTube不是特别擅长的用户界面。

YouTube has launched a $35-a-month TV subscription service that will rival US cable networks.

The live TV service will carry more than 40 channels, including some of the country's biggest networks including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN.

The service will also include a "cloud DVR" that will let users record and store programming.

One analyst told the BBC that YouTube posed a real threat to traditional cable companies.

"YouTube is already an extremely well established video brand, and its apps are virtually everywhere," said Paul Verna of eMarketer.

'For the YouTube generation'

The announcement was made at YouTube's LA-based studio, where it gives free access to the network's biggest stars to create original content.

That material will be part of the package, but the main draw, and the detail most likely to make cable companies nervous, is the inclusion of top channels -including those showing live sport.

"It's live TV designed for the YouTube generation," wrote Christian Oestlien, product management director for YouTube.

"Those who want to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, without commitments."

The service will launch later this spring in its own standalone application on smart TVs as well as mobile devices. One notable drawback, however, will be the absence of major channels such as HBO, CNN and AMC, home of the Walking Dead series.

There were no plans for a similar service outside the US.

Stability challenge

YouTube has also been slow to get involved in the increasingly crowded market. There are already other streaming cable services offering so-called "skinny bundles" of a few main channels at a cheaper cost compared to a traditional cable TV package.

Most notably, DirectTV - owned by AT&T - offers more than 120 channels over the internet, but its cost - $70 per month - is considerably higher.

DirectTV has also come in for fierce criticism over stability. At the beginning of this month, the service went down at perhaps the worst moment imaginable - viewers missed the end of the Super Bowl, and perhaps the most dramatic moment in US sports in recent memory.

Google's vast infrastructure and expertise could give them an edge, predicted eMarketer's Mr Verna.

"YouTube has the technical know how and infrastructure but it's never a given that things will go right. It's not just about delivering the technology at scale.

"It's about the user interface - and that's something YouTube has never been particularly good at."

YouTube takes on cable with new TV service

From：BBC
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39124092
1 March 2017
By：Dave Lee （North America technology reporter）