????網飛（Netflix）公司的首席執行官里德?哈斯廷斯近日走出了一步戰略性的高招，上周五哈斯廷斯宣布將加盟Facebook的董事會。自從1997年創立以來，網飛公司最早用紅色的信封向用戶郵寄影碟，擠垮了影視租賃連鎖巨頭百視達（Blockbuster）；后來又發展成一家主流的流媒體影視網站，顛覆了整個市值高達850億美元的家庭娛樂業的格局，而《財富》雜志也將哈斯廷斯評為2010年年度商業人物。

????不過現在這個行業上的競爭仍在加劇，大家都在打客廳娛樂的主意，網飛也想保持它的領先地位。而通過深化與世界主流社交網絡的合作關系，網飛能夠獲得顯著的競爭優勢。

????今年一月，我在《電視究竟怎么了？》（"What the hell is going on with TV?"）一文中寫到了網絡電視。所謂網絡電視是指電視會成為類似電腦的操作系統，屆時我們既可以在平板電腦上，也可以在電視銀屏上收看我們喜歡的節目。現在網絡電視的時代終于來了。新的商業模式將會使網絡電視的概念變成現實。今年網飛公司備受關注，其訂戶已達2，300萬（其中許多用戶選擇了網絡流媒體影視作為“紅信封”影碟租賃的補充）。與此同時，也有許多競爭者都希望取代網飛的領先位置，其中既有付費電視提供商，也有名不見經傳的初創公司。

????網飛要想保持領先地位，就要使自己的服務與眾不同，尤其是其他的網絡視頻服務也開始流行起來。在線電視網站Hulu.com就是一例，Hulu.com是由新聞集團（News Corp）、迪士尼公司（Walt Disney）、美國國家廣播環球公司（NBC Universal）的母公司康卡斯特（Comcast）與普羅維登斯資本（Providence Equity）這四家公司合資建立的。Hulu去年秋天推出了一項訂閱服務，用戶可在網絡上免費觀看部分節目。但如果用戶按月繳納一定費用，則還可觀看更多的節目，而且還可以在越來越多類似iPad和智能手機的設備上觀看節目。不過據報道，由于Hulu的幾家母公司對Hulu未來的商業模式存在分歧，因此Hulu目前正謀求出售，目前這家網站前途未卜。

????對于網飛來說，更大的威脅來自付費電視提供商。這些付費電視提供商急需保住并擴大現有的付費有線電視用戶群，因此諸如康卡斯特和時代華納（《財富》雜志發行商的時代集團的母公司）等公司已經通過“電視無所不在”（TV Everywhere）等行動，將數字流媒體服務納入他們的付費服務體系中。 例如注冊成為康卡斯特的付費用戶后，觀眾可以同時登錄XfinityTV.com，通過筆記本電腦、平腦電腦或智能手機等設備觀看大量節目。

????歸根結底，誰能夠提供人們最想看的節目，人們就會追捧誰。因此網飛要想讓用戶成為回頭客，就必須努力維護并打造自己的影視資料庫。網飛與一些大型娛樂公司都簽訂了合作合同，但由于網飛的用戶群增長迅猛，因此等到合同續訂時，合同條款可能會發生顯著的變化。最近索尼（Sony）出品的《社交網絡》（The Social Network ）和《特工紹特》（Salt ）等電影就從網飛的即時流媒體服務中消失了，原因是網飛違反了與Starz電視網簽訂的合同（Starz公司擁有索尼電影的在線銷售權），在網飛上觀看這些電影的人數超過了合同規定的數量。哈斯廷斯曾公開表示，網飛哪怕支付超過2億美元來與Starz續約，也“沒有什么好奇怪的”——這個金額要比網飛目前預計支付的金額高出6倍多。

????到目前為止，網飛通過持續對自身進行改造，成功地在競爭中保持了領先位置。不過社交網絡仍是網飛尚未攻克的領域。盡管網飛已經有了一個先進的推薦引擎，可以向觀眾推薦電影，但它目前還沒有像“分享鍵”這樣的工具，可以讓觀眾在流行的社交網絡上互相推薦電影。

????Facebook目前在全球范圍內擁有7億多用戶，未來它可能會對觀眾尋找、分享和觀看影視節目的習慣產生重大影響。早就有公司在Facebook身上做文章了。去年三月，華納兄弟公司（Warner Bros.）就推出了一款應用，使用戶可以直接通過Facebook租賃和觀看電影。通過加入Facebook的董事會，哈斯廷斯也為深化Facebook和網飛的整合提供了機會。

????網飛能直接在Facebook上提供影視節目嗎？敬請關注后續報道。

????譯者：樸成奎

????Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings made a strategically brilliant move for the business Friday when he announced plans to join Facebook's board of directors. Since it was founded in 1997, Netflix (NFLX) has risen from a start-up that took down Blockbuster with its red-enveloped videos by mail to the dominant movie streaming site on the web, disrupting the entire $85 billion home entertainment industry and prompting Fortune to name Hastings business person of the year for 2010. (See: Reed Hastings: Leader of the Pack)

????But competition is heating up for the future of your living room. As Netflix looks to keep its lead, it could gain a significant competitive advantage by nursing a deeper relationship with the world's dominant social network.

????As I wrote in January ("What the hell is going on with TV?"), web TV—the idea the largest screens in our homes will become operating systems like those that power our computers and we'll watch our favorite shows on tablets as well as the big screen—is finally coming. New business models will make this happen. Netflix has grabbed a huge share of attention this year with more than 23 million subscribers (many of whom opt for streaming movies on the web in addition to the red envelopes), but competitors from the pay TV providers to tiny upstarts are trying to displace it.

????To stay ahead, Netflix will have to differentiate even as other web video services gain popularity. Online TV site Hulu.com, a joint venture run by News Corp.(NWS), Walt Disney (DIS), NBC Universal parent Comcast (CMCSA) and Providence Equity, launched a subscription service last fall. Viewers can watch some shows for free on the web, but for a monthly fee, they can watch even more shows on and do so on an expanding list of devices like iPads and smartphones. Recently, Hulu has reportedly put itself up for sale as the large media companies that own it clash over how its business should work, and its not clear what the future holds for the site.

????Pay TV providers pose the larger threat to Netflix. Anxious to keep and grow the subscribers who pay monthly fees for bundles of channels delivered to their homes, companies like Comcast and Time Warner (TWX) (parent company to Fortune publisher Time Inc.) are including digital streaming options with their pay services though the "TV Everywhere" initiatives. Sign up for Comcast, for example, and you can log in to XfinityTV.com to view much of the programming over the web on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

????Ultimately, viewers will flock to the service that gives them the shows and movies they most want to see. Hastings will have to work hard to maintain and build the Netflix library of films in order to keep viewers coming back. Because Netflix's user growth has come fast, it has signed contracts with large entertainment companies in which the terms are likely to shift dramatically as they come up for renewal. Recently Sony (SNE) titles including a batch of high-profile pictures like The Social Network and Salt disappeared from the Netflix instant streaming service after a contract struck between Netflix and Starz, which owned the online rights to Sony movies, was violated--reportedly more people than allowed under contract had viewed the films. Hastings has said publicly that it "wouldn't be shocking" if Netflix paid more than $200 million per year to renew its deal with Starz, an amount more than six times what it is estimated to pay now.

????So far, Netflix has succeeded by continuing to reinvent itself to stay ahead of competitors. However, social is one area it has yet to master. While the company has a sophisticated recommendation engine for suggesting films to viewers, it offers few tools like share buttons to help viewers share titles with each other on popular social networks, for example.

????Enter Facebook. With more than 700 million people globally now maintaining accounts, the social network could have a big impact on how viewers find, share and watch movies and shows in the future. Already, last March, Warner Bros. launched an application that let users rent and watch movies directly on Facebook. By joining the company's board, Hastings could open the door for a deeper integration between the companies.

????Could Netflix begin distributing programming directly over Facebook? Stay tuned.