Video Sites Duke It Out For Content
穆远
谷歌(Google Inc.)旗下的视频分享网站YouTube专门为高质量内容开辟出一块新区域，用于提供数百部完整版的电影数千集完整版的电视剧。不过，此举只是其与明显对手Hulu的争夺战中的一波最新攻势。YouTube和Hulu分别占据着网络视频业务的两个领域，不过它们正越来越多地瞄准对方的地盘，包括争夺可以带来最大广告收入的视频编程方法。YouTube发言人说，它无意成为像Hulu一样提供高质量内容的网站。而是要把握机会，成为一个提供各种内容──从家庭视频到电影大片──的更广泛的平台。YoutubeYouTube高级产品经理Shiva Rajaraman周四在电话中对记者说，视频服务试图在好莱坞大片和家庭视频之间取得平衡。为此，YouTube需要设法得到它漏掉的市场领域。周四，它宣布很多合作伙伴将向YouTube升级的网站贡献内容，其中包括索尼公司(Sony Corp.)的子公司Sony Pictures。该影视娱乐公司已经同意贡献15部影片，并且会不时进行更新。YouTube通过用户上传的视频片断建立了庞大的受众群。Hulu着重于有一定长度的专业制作的内容，比如电视节目和电影等。这家公司也没止步不前。知情人士说，Hulu即将与美国广播公司(ABC)达成协议，后者将用电视节目播放权交换合作关系10%-30%的股份。（去年推出的Hulu由通用电气(General Electric Co.)旗下NBC Universal和《华尔街日报》母公司新闻集团(News Corp.)共同所有。）美国广播公司的内容可是抢手货。这家华特-迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Co.)的子公司一直以来都把内容控制在ABC.com网站之内。据尼尔森(Nielsen)的数据显示，按照观众人数计算，3月份前10大热播网络电视剧中有9部出自这家公司之手。不过知情人士说，YouTube仍在试图搅黄这桩交易，进而将完整内容纳入自己囊中。他们还说，这种可能目前仍很渺茫。美国广播公司拒绝置评。YouTube最近与美国广播公司达成了一项内容没这么全面的协议，可获得后者的体育精彩片断等内容。这些人说，谷歌负责战略合作关系的副总裁伊恩(David Eun)也一直在与制片公司谈判，其中包括福克斯(Fox)和环球影业(Universal)，希望能在与Hulu的排他性协议到期时签下一些内容。Hulu拒绝置评。一些广告商说，尽管Hulu的流量比YouTube小得多，但其高质量的内容对广告商有很强的吸引力，广告收费常常是YouTube的两倍。知情人士说，YouTube因此增大了在优质视频上的投入。这种内容上的争夺延伸到了电视节目以外的内容。Hulu与数家制片公司签订了协议，包括米高梅(MGM)派拉蒙(Paramount)和环球影业，提供《美国派2》(American Pie 2)和《火线狙击》(In the Line of Fire)等影片，片中会插播广告。知情人士说，Hulu也在开拓YouTube最受欢迎的市场之一：音乐录像。这种长度较短专业制作的内容是网上点击最多的内容之一。YouTube一直高居访问量排行榜的频道是环球唱片(Universal Music Group)的频道，有38亿访问量。双方都面临着提振收入的压力。知情人士说，尽管YouTube非常受欢迎，却没能销售足够的广告实现盈利。部分原因是YouTube不愿冒疏远广告商的风险针对全部短片类别卖广告，而是只针对某些通常质量较高的节目卖广告。Hulu拒绝透露是否盈利。不过它面临着高额的流媒体和分类成本，有几个月没能将不断增加的广告库存销售出去。根据YouTube与索尼之间的协议，点击节目的用户将被引向索尼的Crackle.com网站。这是一个由索尼旗下Sony Pictures Television的莫斯考(Steve Mosko)大力开发出来的网站，其中包括电视节目电影和一些专为该网站制作的专业内容。尽管制片公司仍担心网络盗版问题，但随着互联网日渐侵蚀它们的业务，这些内容公司意识到他们必须获得更多收入，创建新的分销模式。比如，知情人士说，YouTube与时代华纳(Time Warner Inc.)进行了高级别会谈，希望开发出一种技术，只有付费用户才能看到它的视频，不过还不清楚是否已经开始研究这种技术。如果Hulu与美国广播公司达成协议，那么只有一家大型广播公司哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)立刻成为争夺的目标。哥伦比亚广播公司已经与YouTube建立了强大的合作关系，不过它并不排除与Hulu达成协议的可能。YouTube上有哥伦比亚广播公司完整版的老节目，包括《星际旅行》(Star Trek)和《飞越比佛利》(Beverly Hills 90210)都在网站上。Jessica E. Vascellaro / Elizabeth Holmes / Sarah McBride相关阅读怎样下载YouTube视频 2009-04-16中国再次屏蔽YouTube 2009-03-25 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月20日08:18', 'GOOG'));Google Inc. (Cl A)总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：GOOG
Google Inc.'s video-sharing site YouTube created a new area of its site devoted to premium content, with the addition of hundreds of full-length movies and thousands of full-length TV episodes to fill it. But the move is only the latest salvo in a war with an obvious target: Hulu.The companies dominate two segments of the online video business. But Hulu and YouTube are increasingly going after each other's turf, including jockeying for video programming that could generate the most advertising dollars.A YouTube spokesman says it isn't interested in become a premium destination like Hulu. It sees an opportunity to serve as a broader platform for all sorts of content, from home videos to major movies.On a call with reporters Thursday, Shiva Rajaraman, senior product manager at YouTube, said the video-service is trying to strike a balance of 'Hollywood and homegrown.'To do that, YouTube, which built a huge audience based on short clips uploaded by users, needs to go after the segment of the market it is missing. On Thursday, it announced that a number of partners, including Sony Pictures, will contribute content to YouTube's updated site. The Sony Corp. unit has agreed to contribute 15 movies, which will change from time to time.Hulu, which focuses on longer-form, professionally created content such as TV shows and movies, isn't standing still. People familiar with the matter say Hulu is close to sealing a deal with ABC that would trade rights to the network's shows for a 10% to 30% stake in the partnership. (Hulu, launched last year, is jointly owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal and News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal.)ABC is a big prize. The Walt Disney Co. unit, which has long kept its content within ABC.com, accounted for nine of the top 10 broadcast TV series watched online in March, measured by unique viewers, according to Nielsen.But YouTube, which recently struck a less-comprehensive pact with ABC for clips of sports highlights and other content, is still trying to foil the deal and land the full-length content itself, say people familiar with the matter. That possibility remains a long shot, they add. ABC declined to comment.Google's vice president of strategic partnerships David Eun has also been keeping up talks with studios including Fox and Universal, hoping to land some content when their exclusive deals with Hulu expire, these people say.Hulu declined to comment.While Hulu has only a sliver of YouTube's traffic, its premium content is particularly attractive to advertisers -- and often commands double the ad rates of offerings on YouTube, some advertisers say. In response, people familiar with YouTube's plans say it is doubling down on premium video.Their scramble for content extends beyond TV shows. Hulu has deals in place with several studios, including MGM, Paramount and Universal, offering movies such as 'American Pie 2' and 'In the Line of Fire,' with commercials mid-stream.Hulu is also exploring one of YouTube's most popular markets, music videos, according to people familiar with the matter. The short-form, professionally produced content is among the most watched across the Web -- the most-watched channel of all time on YouTube is Universal Music Group's channel with 3.8 billion views.Both sides are under pressure to boost their revenues. Despite its enormous popularity, YouTube hasn't been able to sell enough advertising to turn a profit, according to people familiar with the matter. That's partly because rather than risk alienating advertisers by selling ads against its whole catalog of clips, its chosen to sell against only against certain types of generally higher-quality shows.Hulu declined to say whether it is profitable. But the site faces high streaming and cataloging costs and some months has not been able to sell out its growing ad inventory.Under YouTube's agreement with Sony, viewers who click on its titles will be directed back to Sony's Crackle.com Web site, a Web site aggressively developed by Sony Pictures Television's Steve Mosko that includes television shows, movies, and some professional content produced expressly for the site.While studios still fear Web piracy, content companies realize they must generate more revenue and create new distribution models as the Internet eats away at their business. People familiar with the matter say YouTube, for example, has a high-level meeting with Time Warner Inc. about developing technology that would allow it to show videos only to its paying subscribers, although it is unclear whether it has begun working on such technology, these people say.If Hulu locks up ABC, only one major broadcast network, CBS, will be immediately up for grabs. CBS already has a strong partnership with YouTube -- full episodes of its old shows, including 'Star Trek' and 'Beverly Hills 90210,' are on the site -- but the network doesn't rule out a future deal with Hulu, too.Jessica E. Vascellaro / Elizabeth Holmes / Sarah McBride
Google Inc.'s video-sharing site YouTube created a new area of its site devoted to premium content, with the addition of hundreds of full-length movies and thousands of full-length TV episodes to fill it. But the move is only the latest salvo in a war with an obvious target: Hulu.The companies dominate two segments of the online video business. But Hulu and YouTube are increasingly going after each other's turf, including jockeying for video programming that could generate the most advertising dollars.A YouTube spokesman says it isn't interested in become a premium destination like Hulu. It sees an opportunity to serve as a broader platform for all sorts of content, from home videos to major movies.On a call with reporters Thursday, Shiva Rajaraman, senior product manager at YouTube, said the video-service is trying to strike a balance of 'Hollywood and homegrown.'To do that, YouTube, which built a huge audience based on short clips uploaded by users, needs to go after the segment of the market it is missing. On Thursday, it announced that a number of partners, including Sony Pictures, will contribute content to YouTube's updated site. The Sony Corp. unit has agreed to contribute 15 movies, which will change from time to time.Hulu, which focuses on longer-form, professionally created content such as TV shows and movies, isn't standing still. People familiar with the matter say Hulu is close to sealing a deal with ABC that would trade rights to the network's shows for a 10% to 30% stake in the partnership. (Hulu, launched last year, is jointly owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal and News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal.)ABC is a big prize. The Walt Disney Co. unit, which has long kept its content within ABC.com, accounted for nine of the top 10 broadcast TV series watched online in March, measured by unique viewers, according to Nielsen.But YouTube, which recently struck a less-comprehensive pact with ABC for clips of sports highlights and other content, is still trying to foil the deal and land the full-length content itself, say people familiar with the matter. That possibility remains a long shot, they add. ABC declined to comment.Google's vice president of strategic partnerships David Eun has also been keeping up talks with studios including Fox and Universal, hoping to land some content when their exclusive deals with Hulu expire, these people say.Hulu declined to comment.While Hulu has only a sliver of YouTube's traffic, its premium content is particularly attractive to advertisers -- and often commands double the ad rates of offerings on YouTube, some advertisers say. In response, people familiar with YouTube's plans say it is doubling down on premium video.Their scramble for content extends beyond TV shows. Hulu has deals in place with several studios, including MGM, Paramount and Universal, offering movies such as 'American Pie 2' and 'In the Line of Fire,' with commercials mid-stream.Hulu is also exploring one of YouTube's most popular markets, music videos, according to people familiar with the matter. The short-form, professionally produced content is among the most watched across the Web -- the most-watched channel of all time on YouTube is Universal Music Group's channel with 3.8 billion views.Both sides are under pressure to boost their revenues. Despite its enormous popularity, YouTube hasn't been able to sell enough advertising to turn a profit, according to people familiar with the matter. That's partly because rather than risk alienating advertisers by selling ads against its whole catalog of clips, its chosen to sell against only against certain types of generally higher-quality shows.Hulu declined to say whether it is profitable. But the site faces high streaming and cataloging costs and some months has not been able to sell out its growing ad inventory.Under YouTube's agreement with Sony, viewers who click on its titles will be directed back to Sony's Crackle.com Web site, a Web site aggressively developed by Sony Pictures Television's Steve Mosko that includes television shows, movies, and some professional content produced expressly for the site.While studios still fear Web piracy, content companies realize they must generate more revenue and create new distribution models as the Internet eats away at their business. People familiar with the matter say YouTube, for example, has a high-level meeting with Time Warner Inc. about developing technology that would allow it to show videos only to its paying subscribers, although it is unclear whether it has begun working on such technology, these people say.If Hulu locks up ABC, only one major broadcast network, CBS, will be immediately up for grabs. CBS already has a strong partnership with YouTube -- full episodes of its old shows, including 'Star Trek' and 'Beverly Hills 90210,' are on the site -- but the network doesn't rule out a future deal with Hulu, too.Jessica E. Vascellaro / Elizabeth Holmes / Sarah McBride
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