Golden Oldies
From a lot of what you hear lately, you'd get the impression that my industry has more than one foot in the grave. Googling the phrase "old media is dead" turns up 41.2 million links. My favorite (and by no means unrepresentative) is from the very-new-media site gawker.com: "Old Media is Really, Really, Really Dead."
Well, don't believe it. Traditional media is not dead. In fact, our companies are leading the charge into the networked digital future. The media industry stands at the dawn of a new golden age -- fueled on the demand side by ever-more discerning consumers, and on the supply side by fresh thinking, new products and oceans of new content.
The reality is that new technology, far from being a threat, offers media companies the chance to solve an age-old problem. Our businesses were built on our ability to enlighten, entertain and educate -- whether through the pages of a novel, the images on a screen, or the facts in a news broadcast. We exist to connect masses of people with compelling content. Yet throughout history, our power to achieve that mass connection has been limited by distribution constraints -- prohibitive costs, hard-to-reach locations, sluggish technology, etc. Even as media companies grew and thrived, complete access to a truly global audience was long out of reach.
Not anymore. Thanks to advances in both hardware and software, we can now reach almost anyone, anywhere, at any time, through a wide variety of devices. This new reality of ubiquitous low-cost distribution gives us more ways than ever to tell our stories and get them to an audience. Think about the most exciting elements of the technology revolution and how they are changing the media business today:
? High-definition video provides viewers with a stunning visual experience like none they've ever seen. It's as close as you can get to being in a movie theater without having to pay the babysitter. And the screens will only get cheaper, bigger and better.
? On-demand technology allows consumers to order popular television programs, hit movies, news shows and sports events for immediate viewing with the click of a button, freeing the viewer from the hassle of schedules.
? Broadband video lets consumers personalize high-quality entertainment and news programming, to suit their own needs and taste -- true one-to-one distribution.
? Hard-disc storage has already transformed the music business, is transforming television, and will soon transform the movie industry. We are not far from the day when consumers will have access to entire seasons of their favorite TV programs and thousands of feature films on devices no bigger than a deck of cards.
? Portability has freed our audiences from the couch to enjoy their favorite music, movies, games and television anytime, anywhere. The days of the captive consumer are over.
? Wireless technology allows any of the world's two billion mobile phone users (twice the number of TV households) to get news updates, sports scores and entertainment delivered directly to their handsets. This has the potential to be the greatest communications platform in history.
? Community is being strengthened, not threatened, by new technology. From creating online photo albums to sharing video to generating personal profiles to blogging, new technology is drawing people closer together and removing boundaries.
? Interactivity allows viewers to choose their endings, pick their camera angles, play games and watch multiple shows at once. It's the ultimate in multitasking.
These innovations are helping transform the content business in revolutionary -- and profitable -- ways. They allow what was once a one-size-fits-all, mass-only industry to reach out to niche audiences and create new markets. They give us license to take risks and be more flexible. All of our stories no longer need to be geared to a mass audience. We are free to experiment, free to be adventurous, and free to explore our boldest impulses. As choices explode even further, consumers will be the ultimate winners.
To be sure, these new opportunities carry with them new challenges. Consumers are already growing impatient with interoperability problems among their many devices. The regulatory climate must not burden this emerging new world with archaic, outmoded rules. More platforms mean more opportunities for content theft. But these problems are solvable if media and technology companies work together as partners in a common industry.
The mass digital conversion of the past 10 years puts consumers at the very heart of media. They program. They timeshift. They manipulate. And perhaps most significantly, they interact and engage -- they have been liberated from the constraints of the old analog world. That liberated consumer is bringing about what can and should be the golden age for the so-called old media.
Mr. Chernin is president and chief operating officer of News Corporation.
夕阳无限好
近来，铺天盖地的评论可能给你这样一种感觉：传统媒体已经是穷途末路。在Google上键入“old media is dead”（传统媒体死定了）这样的字段，可以得出4,120万个链接。我最常听到而且也是极具代表性的一句话来自一家新式媒体的网站gawker.com：'Old Media is Really, Really, Really Dead.'（传统媒体真地、真地、真地是无可救药了）。
其实，大可不必相信上述观点。传统媒体并非前途渺茫。实际上，在迈向依托于网络的未来数字世界方面，传统媒体走在队伍的最前列。得益于供求两方面的推动，传媒行业即将迎来一个新的黄金发展期。消费者的眼光从未像现在这样刺激著需求的发展，而新观点、新产品以及大量的新内容则推动了供应的增长。
现实情况是新科技并不是一个威胁，而是为传媒公司提供了一个解决“老大难”问题的契机。我们的业务建立在三个E之上──Enlighten(启蒙)、Entertain(娱乐)和Educate(教育)，通过故事、收看电视图像或通过广播收听新闻来提供这三种功能。我们的存在是为了给大众提供具有吸引力的内容。但纵观历史可以发现，成本高昂、位置偏远、科技不够先进等分销渠道方面的限制束缚了我们为大众提供内容的手脚。即便是在传媒行业高速发展的鼎盛时期，将内容充分传递到全球各个角落也是一件可望而不可及的事。
但现在梦想终于成真了。得益于软硬件的进步，凭借多种设备，我们现在基本上可以做到随时随地地把内容传递给全球的每一位读者/观众。无所不在的低成本分销技术的崛起为我们提供了前所未有的多种多样的信息传递渠道。接下来我们谈一谈科技革命中最令人心动的方面以及它们正在如何改变著传媒行业的格局：
──高清晰视频为观众提供了无与伦比的视觉享受。消费者无须走出家门就可获得亲临电影院般的感官效果。而且，高清晰度电视屏幕会越来越变得售价更低、面积更大、效果更好。
──点播技术使得消费者可以订购时下流行的电视节目、热播电影、新闻节目和体育事件，只需点击一下鼠标就可立即观看这些节目。同时，也使他们免去了查阅电视节目表的烦恼。
──宽频视频使得消费者可以对高质量的娱乐和新闻节目进行个性化定制，以满足他们各自的需要及口味。这才是真正意义上的一对一的分销模式。
──已经改变了音乐产业格局的硬盘存储技术正在改变电视行业，不久后就会波及到电影行业。不远的未来，消费者就可以在一个像一盒扑克牌大小的存储设备中存放整部他们最喜爱的电视节目以及成千上万的大片。
──便携设备的发展将我们的观众从沙发中解放出来，他们可以随时随地的欣赏音乐、电影，打游戏和观看电视节目，而不必拘泥于一个固定的地方。
──无线技术使得全球20亿手机用户（是全球电视机用户的2倍）可以通过手机获得最新的消息、体育比赛结果和娱乐节目。手机有可能成为历史上最为庞大的通讯平台。
──新科技的出现将使人与人之间的关系得到加强，而不是受到威胁。从创建网上相册、到视频共享、到创建个人目录、再到博客，新技术拉近了人与人之间的距离，消除了彼此间的隔阂。
──互动性使得用户可以选择他们喜爱的结局、选择观看视角、玩游戏和同时观看多个节目。这正是多重任务的终极发展方向。
这些科技创新正在给传媒行业带来翻天覆地的变革，也带来了滚滚利润。原先采取“一刀切”发展战略、只面向大众的传媒行业现在也可以接触到那些有特定需求的观众，从而催生出新的市场。这也为我们进行新尝试、提高经营的灵活度创造了有利条件。我们的节目不再单纯地面向大众群体。我们可以无拘无束地进行试验、进行冒险和进行最大胆的探索。随著选择的更加丰富，消费者将成为最终的受益者。
当然，新机遇也伴随著新的挑战。消费者已经对各种设备的不兼容问题变得越来越不耐烦。监管部门也不应该套用不合时宜的旧规定来管理新形势。分销平台的增加意味著盗版现象可能更加猖獗。但如果传媒和科技企业能像一个战壕里的战友一样并肩合作就可以解决这些问题。
过去10年来的数字化变革将消费者推至传媒行业的核心地位。节目的编排都是围绕他们进行的，他们左右了行业的发展。最重要的可能是消费者能够进行互动并参与到节目之中，他们摆脱了传统模拟世界的禁锢。消费者可以也应该引领所谓的传统媒体再度走向辉煌。
（编者按：作者Peter Chernin是新闻集团的总裁兼首席运营长。）
