CNN总裁：数字化是我们的未来

    杰夫•朱克曾说，电视行业无法承担“用模拟时代的美元交换数字时代的美分”这样的代价。他因为这句话而广为人知。那是几年前的事，当时朱克是NBC环球（NBC Universal）的CEO。

    如今，朱克是CNN全球（CNN Worldwide）的总裁。他说，数字电视已经度过了1分硬币和10分硬币的时代。在科罗拉多州阿斯彭举行的财富科技头脑风暴大会（Fortune Brainstorm Tech）上，他登台与《财富》杂志主编苏安迪进行交谈时说：“我们可能超越了25分硬币的时代。”

    推动CNN进入数字世界的不仅仅是美元诱惑，还有观众。朱克说，相比电视，更多的人通过CNN的数字资产（CNN.com拥有1,200万独立访客、850万网页浏览量和500万视频播放量）获知了英国小王子出生的消息。“我们不介意观众在什么屏幕上观看CNN新闻，”朱克说。“移动端可能是我们未来最重要的组成部分。”同时他还说，电视业务仍然是CNN的摇钱树，忽略这一点会是该公司不可承受之重。CNN在拥抱数字世界时必须“知道我们的面包哪个部分抹了黄油”（指知道自己的利益所在——译注）。

    今年1月，CNN收视率大幅下滑，部分原因是来自福克斯新闻（Fox News）和MSNBC的竞争加剧。值此之际，朱克火线上任，成为CNN新一任掌门。他说，目前，CNN收视率已经大幅回升，但有线电视新闻业务还有“很长的路要走”【《财富》杂志的母公司时代华纳拥有 CNN】。

    他的方法之一是扩大有线电视网络的覆盖面和吸引力。他的初步举措就包括放弃“CNN=政治”的标签。“我们有两个国内竞争对手，他们只报道政治新闻。”他在提到MSNBC和福克斯新闻时说。他表示，CNN将继续积极报道华盛顿和中东的政治新闻，但同时将把更多的资源用于报道娱乐、商业、体育和文化新闻。

    回到数字业务。赛安迪问朱克，他是否预见到模拟和数字在广告收入方面会有平起平坐的一天？“我不排除这种可能性，”他说。“谁知道这个世界10年后会是什么样子？”（财富中文网）

    译者：千牛絮

    Jeff Zucker is famous for saying that the TV business couldn't afford to trade "analog dollars for digital pennies." That was a few years ago, when Zucker was CEO of NBC Universal.

    Now, Zucker is president of CNN Worldwide and says that digital television has gone past pennies and dimes. "We're probably beyond quarters," he said during an on-stage conversation withFortune managing editor Andy Serwer at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo.

    It's not only dollars but also audiences that are pushing CNN into the digital world. More people got news of the birth of the royal baby in England on CNN's digital assets (12 million unique visitors and 85 million page views on CNN.com, as well as 5 million video streams) than on television, Zucker said. "We are not going to care what screen you are watching CNN on," Zucker said. "Mobile is probably the most important part of our future." At the same time, he said, CNN still cannot afford to ignore that its television business remains the company's cash cow. As CNN embraces digital, it has to "understand where our bread is buttered."

    Zucker took over the top job at CNN in January amid a ratings slump due in part from intensifying competition from Fox News and MSNBC. He says ratings have improved dramatically, the cable news operation still has "a long ways to go." (CNN is owned by Fortune's parent company, Time Warner (TWX))

    Part of his approach is to broaden the coverage, and presumably the appeal, of the network. Among his early moves was to ditch the "CNN=politics" tag line. "We have two domestic competitors that are all about politics," he said referring to MSNBC and Fox. CNN will continue to cover Washington and the Middle East aggressively, he said, but will also devote more resources to entertainment, business, sports and culture.

    Going back to the digital business, Serwer asked Zucker whether he foresaw a day when analog and digital would be on par in terms of ad dollars. "I wouldn't rule it out," he said. "Who is to say what the world looks like in 10 years?"