全球影视业三小天王公司出炉

乍看之下，Netflix、AMC Networks和狮门娱乐可能有非常大的差异。一个是流媒体视频服务商，一个是电视台，另一个则是传统电影公司。但它们也有共同之处，那就是借助同样的策略实现了快速增长。

在《财富》杂志评选的2015年增长最快的100家公司中，只有这三家来自娱乐行业，因为他们都充分发挥了原创的力量，无论是原创电视剧还是原创电影。

Netflix：大放异彩

Netflix（排名第46位）的最大成功之处就是原创节目，这并不是秘密。对于该公司最热门的电视剧，大多数人都耳熟能详，比如《纸牌屋》、《女子监狱》以及2015年的《至亲血统》。但作为数字流媒体创新领域的领跑者，Netflix的原创成果远不止于此，其中还包括《马可•波罗》、《夜魔侠》和《我本坚强》。NBC原打算推出《我本坚强》，但最终把它转让给了Netflix。

《纸牌屋》是Netflix的首部原创剧（改编自一部BBC迷你剧）。该公司播出的首部剧集则是史蒂夫•范•赞特主演的挪威语电视剧《莉莉海默》。Netflix的另一项成功业务是为已有剧集制作原创续集，比如续播《发展受阻》第4季（被20世纪福克斯停播的情景喜剧）和八集的《哈啦夏令营：入营第一天》（2001年经典另类小众电影《哈啦夏令营》的衍生剧）。

这些原创作品让Netflix成为迅猛发展的流媒体电视行业领军者。亚马逊也投身于这个欣欣向荣的领域，出资制作了一些原创剧，比如《波什》、《阿尔法屋》以及在金球奖上折桂的突破性电视剧《透明家庭》。观众对网络剧的浓厚兴趣显而易见——2012年初以来，Netflix的用户数量每个季度连续增长，从2200万升至6560万，增幅几乎达到200%。该公司股价也水涨船高，三年来升幅超过800%，2014年上涨了64%。2007年以来，Netflix曾六次跻身《财富》的100家增长最快公司排行榜，这也是原因之一。2014年，该公司实现收入55亿美元，在《财富》500强中的排名因此提高了89位，升至第474名。

AMC Networks：老树发新芽

AMC Networks（排名第100位）同样拿出了大量原创作品。原来人们觉得AMC是一家播放老电影的有线电视台；在过去10年中，该公司做出了调整并重塑了自己的品牌（它甚至淡化了American Movie Classics这个全称，以免“经典电影”的字样过于显眼）。2007年，AMC推出的首部原创电视剧《广告狂人》一炮而红。第二年，呈现在观众眼前的是《绝命毒师》；2010年，AMC又拿出了《行尸走肉》。

2013年，这三部戏同时播出，其中《绝命毒师》已经进入最后一季（观看该剧大结局的观众数量达到令人咋舌的1030万），这直接推动了AMC的收入增长。2015年初，AMC又推出了《绝命毒师》的衍生剧《风骚律师》。市场调研公司尼尔森的统计数据显示，2月份首播时，《风骚律师》成为历史上最吸引18-49岁核心观众群的有线电视黄金档剧集。华尔街对这样的数字青睐有加。两年来，AMC的股价上涨了58%，2014年升幅为28%。

狮门娱乐：靠畅销书打天下

狮门娱乐（排名第54位）的两大系列电影为它赚足了票房，它们分别是狮门子公司顶峰娱乐制作的《暮光之城》以及《饥饿游戏》。这两个系列的共同之处在于它们都改编自最畅销青少年小说，都充满奇幻色彩（一个是吸血鬼故事，另一个描述了未来的反乌托邦式故事），而且核心人物都是充满活力的年轻女性（分别由克里斯汀•斯图尔特和詹妮弗•劳伦斯扮演）。

五部《暮光之城》电影的总票房为13.6亿美元（第三部《暮光之城：月食》表现最好）；三部《饥饿游戏》电影则带来了11.7亿美元的票房收入，而且还有一部等待上映。人们经常拿这两个系列作比较，而同时打造出两部佳作对狮门来说着实令人赞叹。2014年狮门的收入略有下降，但该公司股价一直稳步上涨，2014年升幅为14%。

《财富》评选这100家增长最快公司的标准包括过去三年的收入增长率、每股收益增速以及年均总回报率。也就是说，Netflix、AMC和狮门都呈持续增长态势，而这要归功于它们对原创产品的大规模投入。

这三家公司都有过一些失败之作。不过，只要成功之作大放异彩——《纸牌屋》、《绝命毒师》和《饥饿游戏》都是无可争议的上乘之作——它们就能实现高速增长。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

校对：詹妮

At first glance Netflix, AMC Networks, and Lions Gate Entertainment may appear to be very different companies. One is a streaming service, one a television channel, and one a traditional film studio. But they all have something in common: the same strategy is fueling their fast growth.

These three companies are the only entertainment businesses on our 2015 Fastest Growing Companies list because each one has realized the power of original franchises, whether that be a television or movie series.

Netflix: Big Red

The great success Netflix (No. 46) has had with original programming is no secret. Most people can rattle off the company’s biggest hit dramas: House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and this year, Bloodline. But the early digital-streaming innovator has pumped out many other original shows, among them: Marco Polo,Daredevil, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which was originally planned as an NBC show but was sold to Netflix.

House of Cards was the company’s first original series (adapted from a BBC mini-series), but the first television show Netflix NFLX -7.58% ever streamed was Lilyhammer, a Norwegian show starring Steven Van Zandt (recognizable from The Sopranos and Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band). Netflix has also seen success in producing original continuations of preexisting shows, among them the fourth season of Arrested Development (a cancelled Fox comedy) and eight episodes of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, a spinoff of the cult-classic 2001 movie.

All of this original programming has established Netflix as the leader in the exploding business of streaming television. It’s a booming business that Amazon AMZN -4.13% has also invested in with original series such as Bosch, Alpha House, and the groundbreaking and award-winning Transparent. The strong interest in made-for-Internet series is apparent: Netflix’s subscriber numbers have risen every quarter since the beginning of 2012, tripling from 22 million to 65.6 million subscribers. The stock price has responded in kind: it’s up more than 800% in the last three years, and up 64% in the last year, part of the reason Netflix has appeared on Fortune’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies list in six non-consecutive years since 2007. The company’s revenues were $5.5 billion last year, helping it climb 89 spots on the Fortune 500 to No. 474.

AMC Networks: An old dog with a new trick

AMC Networks (No. 100), too, has made great hay with original series. Originally conceived as a cable channel that aired old movies, the network has shifted and rebranded itself in the past decade. (It has even de-emphasized its full name, American Movie Classics.) In 2007, AMC debutedMad Men, its first original series, to instant critical acclaim. The next year came Breaking Bad, and in 2010, The Walking Dead.

The network’s revenue growth can be pinned directly to the peak overlap of these three shows, which was in 2013, when all three were on the air concurrently and Breaking Bad was in its final season. (The series finale was watched by a whopping 10.3 million viewers.) Earlier this year, AMC debuted the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, which set a Nielsen record in February as the most-watched cable series premiere ever in the key age demographic of 18—49-year-olds. Wall Street loves those ratings: AMC’s stock AMCX -2.77% is up 58% in the past two years, 28% in the past year.

Lions Gate Entertainment: Banking on hit books

Lions Gate Entertainment (No. 54) has had box office success with two major franchises: The Twilight series (produced by Summit Entertainment, a Lions Gate subsidiary) and Hunger Games, which have much in common as they are both film adaptations of bestselling young adult book series, are fantastical (one is about vampires and the other about a futuristic dystopia), and are anchored by a dynamic young female character (portrayed by Kristen Stewart in Twilight, Jennifer Lawrence in TheHunger Games).

The five Twilight movies have made a combined $1.36 billion at the box office (the third installment, Twilight: Eclipse, did best) while the three Hunger Games movies have accrued $1.17 billion, with one more still to come. The two franchises are often compared, and for Lions Gate to have both is quite a coup. Annual revenue dipped slightly in 2014, but the stock LGF -1.87% is a steady riser, up 14% in the past year.

Fortune’s annual list of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies takes into account revenue growth rate, EPS growth rate, and three-year annualized total return—all for the past three years. That means that Netflix, AMC, and Lions Gate have been on a growth streak—all owing to their big bets on original programming.

Each of these companies has had some losers, but if the winners win big—and House of Cards, Breaking Bad, and TheHunger Games franchise are indisputable winners—big growth follows.