电视的未来

    自互联网出现以来，网络电视就一直慢吞吞地徘徊在人们的视线之中。在各大有线电视公司推出“电视无所不在”活动，苹果（Apple）、谷歌（Google）和微软（Microsoft）等巨头开始兜售旨在把互联网带入电视的硬件设备数年之后，网络和电视的融合依然是不完整的。由于有线电视运营商、广播网和技术公司竞相争夺地盘，消费者面临一个乱七八糟的局面：不配套的设备和服务，更不用说断断续续的信号了。现在，新一代服务或许终将兑现无所不在的电视这一承诺了。

    最新的加入者是NimbleTV，它可以让观众通过其网站随时随地录下任何节目。在 Tribune Co.等公司的支持下，这家位于纽约市的服务商将客户购自有线电视运营商的电视频道以流媒体的方式置于网络之上。客户不是向诸如康卡斯特公司（Comcast）这样的有线电视运营商付费，而是向NimbleTV付费。具体支付多少费用目前尚未确定，但这项费用将略高于一般的有线电视账单。这家初创企业将充当中间商的角色，管理订户和有线电视运营商的关系，它会把大部分费用转移给运营商，自身保留一小部分。

    听起来很熟悉吧？斯灵媒体公司（Sling Media）的 Slingbox也运用这项技术。这种机顶盒设备允许消费者远程使用手机或笔记本电脑观看电视频道。 Cablevision公司和时代华纳有线电视公司（Time Warner Cable）提供的的应用程序可以在移动设备上复制用户订阅的全部或部分电视直播节目。康卡斯特公司推出的Xfinity允许用户在网络上收看电视节目，但只有在节目播出之后才可以这么做。NimbleTV旨在改善所有这些技术，它不仅去除了笨重的硬件，而且提供更好的画面和一种能够保存数千小时节目的虚拟录像机。NimbleTV的创始人兼首席执行官阿南德•萨勃拉曼尼亚表示，这项业务的运转无需经过有线电视运营商的许可。

    如果NimbleTV流行起来的话，它将有望打破有线电视运营商在特定区域的垄断地位。譬如，如果奥马哈一家小型有线电视运营商的收费比当地有线电视公司更加公道，NimbleTV的用户就可以更换运营商。这或许将使不同地区的有线电视公司形成一种相互竞争的格局。

    就目前而言，NimbleTV希望避免重蹈Aereo公司的覆辙。在巴里•迪勒的 IAC公司的支持下，Aereo公司以流媒体方式将基本的广播频道记录在网络设备之上，这项服务面向大纽约市区，每月的收费为12美元。这家公司采用的技术手段非常独特，它在布鲁克林一家仓库里存储了一组阵列天线——兔子耳朵的高端版本；客户实际上是在租用这些天线。甚至在这项服务于今年3月份推出之前，纽约市几乎所有的广播公司就联合起来，以侵犯版权为由，向Aereo公司提起两项诉讼。这些案子目前还未解决，Aereo公司依然在运作。

    这两项服务显示，网络电视终于来临了——至少在纽约市是这样。但年营收高达1,500亿美元的家庭娱乐产业是很难被瓦解的。只要消费者还愿意争相收看电视节目，谁将买单，谁将收费就依然是一个悬而未决的问题。

    译者：任文科

    Since the advent of the Internet, web TV has perpetually lingered over the horizon. Years after major cable companies unveiled "TV everywhere" initiatives and giants Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT) began peddling hardware to beam the Internet to televisions, the merging of the Net and the tube is incomplete. Consumers face a mess of discordant devices and services, not to mention spotty availability, as cable providers, networks, and tech companies squabble over turf. Now a new crop of services may finally make good on the promise of ubiquitous TV.

    The latest entrant is NimbleTV, which lets viewers watch and record anything, anytime via its website. With backing from the Tribune Co., among others, the New York City-based service streams the package of TV channels a customer buys from a cable provider online. Instead of paying the world's Comcasts, customers pay NimbleTV. How much exactly hasn't been determined, though the fee will be slightly more than a typical cable bill. The startup acts as a broker, managing a subscriber's relationship with providers, passing on most of the fee to providers and keeping a small percentage.

    Sound familiar? It's the same technology used in Sling Media's Slingbox. That set-top device allows consumers to watch TV channels remotely using a phone or laptop. Cablevision (CVC) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) offer apps that replicate all or part of subscribers' live-TV lineup on mobile devices. And Comcast's (CMSCA) Xfinity allows access to shows online, but only after they have aired. NimbleTV aims to improve on all those by doing away with bulky hardware, providing a better picture, and offering a virtual video recorder that can save thousands of hours of programming. Founder and chief executive Anand Subramanian says he doesn't need cable providers to sanction him in order for the business to work.

    Should NimbleTV catch on, it could break the geographic monopolies cable providers enjoy. If, for instance, a small Omaha-based cable provider offers better prices than a local cable firm, a NimbleTV customer could switch. That might pit cable companies from different parts of the country against one another.

    For now, NimbleTV hopes to avoid the fate of startup Aereo. Backed by Barry Diller's IAC (IACI), Aereo streams and records basic broadcast channels to web-enabled devices for $12 a month in the greater New York City area. It does so by storing antennas -- high-end versions of bunny ears -- in a Brooklyn warehouse; customers essentially rent them. Even before its March launch, virtually all of the city's broadcasters banded together to file two suits, citing copyright infringements. The cases are pending, and Aereo is still operating.

    Both services suggest that web TV has finally arrived -- in New York at least. But the $150 billion-a-year home-entertainment industry is not easily disrupted. As much as consumers may be clamoring to watch on the go, the question of who will pay for it -- and who will get paid -- remains wide open.