亚马逊携原创精品节目加入收视大战

    今年5月，亚马逊公司（Amazon）宣布创建电影制作网站“亚马逊工作室”（Amazon Studios），并计划推出原创电视节目时。大家都认为这是一个“众包”（crowdsourcing）项目，能让普通人有机会成为电视节目制作人。但从公司首批推出的六部电视节目看，其中五部的制片人要么拥有深厚的电视制作背景，要么在其他领域已经成名。

    其中只有一部情景喜剧是由无名之辈担任编剧的。其他作品则均由资深电视人操刀，比如《我为喜剧狂》（30 Rock）、《囧司徒每日脱口秀》（The Daily Show）、《生活大爆炸》（Big Bang Theory），还有连环画《杜恩斯比利》（Doonesbury）的作者盖里•特鲁多，以及讽刺类小报《洋葱》（The Onion）的创作人员。

    如此强大的首播阵容将使亚马逊和其他视频网站及电视网陷入一场恶战。几乎所有主要的视频网站都在开发高质量（至少有可能爆红）的节目。它们彼此之间将拉开架势，较量一番，同时还将和电视网及有线电视公司展开大战。电视业本来就够热闹的了，现在更有好戏看了。

    亚马逊实际上已基本抛弃了所谓的“众包”生产，这也就是承认其各路对手——网飞（Netflix）、葫芦（Hulu）、及某种程度上的Youtube（专攻短小视频节目的细分市场）——所做的工作并不像一般的互联网初创企业，而是类似于一流的电视制作商。网飞目前正在制作“尊享”节目，预计将在HBO电视网或者AMC电视网播放。而葫芦网的原创节目开发预算则达到了惊人的每年5亿美元。

    葫芦的节目制作是这群对手中最像电视网的，这也不奇怪，因为它本来就是几家传统电视网创办的。其节目包括一部由摩根•斯普尔洛克主持的系列纪录片——《大号的我》（Super Size Me fame），由执导《年少轻狂》（Dazed and Confused）的导演理查德•林克莱特主持的一部旅游节目，以及一部喜剧片。这些节目和电视网节目一样都是每周播出。而网飞的做法刚好相反，它会一次性播出全系列节目——这是一个旨在吸引一流人才的策略。

    如果亚马逊还死抱着向普通人征求剧本的计划，要和这些巨头角逐就风险太大了。不过，因为以下原因，所谓的“众包”元素仍会继续存在：首播剧目可以在流媒体上免费播放，观众有机会对剧情施加影响。亚马逊金牌服务（Amazon Prime）的订户将可观看那些被选中拍摄成系列剧的剧目。这一服务已让用户能访问亚马逊的电视电影片库（目前，这一服务正日益成为联结亚马逊客户导向的各种服务和硬件业务的枢纽）。

    When Amazon announced the creation of Amazon Studios and its plans to create original TV programming in May, it was widely described as a "crowdsourcing" project, giving ordinary people a chance to become TV producers. But of the six pilot shows the company has greenlighted, five come from producers either with impressive television resumes, or who are famous for something else.

    Just one show, a sitcom, was written by unknowns. The others include TV veterans from shows like 30 Rock, The Daily Show, and Big Bang Theory, as well Gary Trudeau, author of the Doonesbury comic strip, and the people at the satirical newspaper The Onion.

    The roster of pilots sets up a battle royale involving Amazon (AMZN) and other Internet-video outfits and the TV networks. Nearly all major Internet-based companies have high-quality (or at least, potentially widely popular) programming in the works. They'll be battling the networks and the cable companies as much as with each other. The TV business is about to get even more interesting than it already was.

    By largely abandoning the "crowdsourcing" of production, Amazon is acknowledging that its competitors -- Netflix (NFLX), Hulu, and to some degree YouTube (GOOG) (which is focusing mainly on niche programming mainly comprising short videos) -- are working like big-time TV producers rather than Internet startups. Netflix is producing "premium" programming that supposedly would fit in well on HBO or maybe AMC. Hulu's budget for its original programming is a stunning $500 million a year.

    Hulu's programming is the most network-TV-like of the bunch, which is not surprising as it is owned by several traditional TV networks. Its shows include a documentary series hosted by Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame, a travel show hosted by director Richard Linklater, director of Dazed and Confused, and a scripted comedy. Like network TV, the shows will be released weekly. On Netflix, by contrast, whole series will be made available all at once -- a strategy that's designed to attract high-level talent.

    Competing with such fare would be highly risky if Amazon were to stick hard to the plan to solicit scripts from the general public. The "crowdsourcing" element, however, will stay in place in one respect: the pilots will all be streamed free of charge, and the viewing public will be given a chance to weigh in. The shows that are chosen to become series will be made available to subscribers to Amazon Prime, which already offers access to Amazon's film and television library. (Amazon's Prime service is increasingly the nexus of all its consumer-oriented services and hardware businesses.)