????過去的幾個月以來，身在中國的我發現，我的iPad上突然涌現出了一大堆免費的美國高清電視節目，比如《周六夜現場》(Saturday Night Live)、《國土安全》(Homeland)、《紙牌屋》(House of Cards)和《艾倫秀》(Ellen)。中國門戶網站搜狐（Sohu.com）上個月剛剛與《艾倫秀》達成了一項協議，13億中國觀眾從此有機會欣賞這檔風靡全美的脫口秀節目。對于像我這樣的外籍人士來說，這是一種幸福。對于億萬中國觀眾來說，這是最新一波的娛樂浪潮。

????1月末達成的《艾倫秀》授權協議備受關注，部分原因是，它將成為首個在華播出的美國脫口秀節目。此外，在透露這則消息時，艾倫?德杰尼勒斯用中文說了6次“你好！”但她的節目僅僅是最近登陸中國的幾十個美國電視節目之一。過去兩年來，中國視頻網站一直在瘋狂購買美國情節劇和情景喜劇的版權，為中國觀眾帶來了《迷失》(Lost)、《犯罪現場調查》(CSI)和《絕命毒師》(Breaking Bad)等熱播劇集。《艾倫秀》的買家搜狐公司已經購買了50多部美國電視節目。它更大的競爭對手優酷網（Youku.com）購買了60部。

????中國網絡視頻行業規模巨大——據艾瑞咨詢公司(IResearch)估計，今年的在線廣告應該會為這個行業帶來約29.5億美元的營收。由于中國的盜版現象正受到遏制，各大視頻網站開始了最新一輪的搶購風潮。它們爭先恐后地購買中國和海外的視頻內容，推動電視節目和電影的版權價格一路高歌猛進。視頻網站高管已經著手開拓各自的細分市場：搜狐一直專注于“最好的”美國電視節目，比如《艾倫秀》和《生活大爆炸》(The Big Bang Theory)等；優酷網購買了英國劇集《神探夏洛克》(Sherlock )和《唐頓莊園》(Downton Abbey)等；騰訊（v.qq.com）擁有《犯罪現場調查》的版權；愛奇藝（Iqiyi.com）則專注于名人娛樂節目。

????繼劇情片和喜劇之后，這些視頻網站現在開始涉足下一個美國電視節目類型——完全脫稿的直播娛樂節目。

????上個月，《周六夜現場》對外宣布了一項授權協議，合作伙伴依然是搜狐公司，后者將在旗下的網站同步播出這檔新節目。搜狐CEO張朝陽表示，除了老觀眾外，他還希望《周六夜現場》能吸引備受廣告客戶垂青的高中生和大學生群體。他說，年輕觀眾認為做一名美國文化粉絲是品味和地位的象征。在12月份的《周六夜現場》推介會上，有記者問張朝陽，搜狐準備怎樣解釋這檔節目中時常出現的文化背景知識。他似乎沒有這個煩惱：有字幕啊！

????美國電視節目占搜狐視頻點擊量的20%。《艾倫秀》被歸入了與《周六夜現場》相同的綜藝節目類別，符合搜狐一貫的購買風格——生動活潑，有大量名人亮相的美國節目。在這項交易達成之前，這檔脫口秀的分銷商華納兄弟電視集團全球分銷公司(Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution)聽說搜狐為了對抗更大的競爭對手優酷網和愛奇藝（這家隸屬于百度公司的視頻網站最近斥資約3.7億美元收購了競爭對手PPS），有意購買《艾倫秀》。對于這家制作公司來說，《艾倫秀》進入中國是一個巨大的勝利。“把《艾倫秀》獨特的輕娛樂品牌帶入中國是我們長期以來的目標之一，”該公司總裁杰弗里?施萊辛格在一封電子郵件中寫道。

????最近一個季度，搜狐視頻的收入增加了兩倍。這家公司仍然在繼續斥資購買視頻內容，進一步打造網絡基礎設施。但由于購買數十個像《艾倫秀》這樣的電視節目花費巨大，晨星公司(Morningstar)的分析師預計，搜狐的視頻業務在2015年前不會轉虧為盈。

????Over the past couple of months, a bunch of free, HD American TV shows have started popping up on my iPad in China. Shows like Saturday Night Live, Homeland, House of Cards, and Ellen, which just struck a deal last month with Sohu.com (SOHU), one of China's Internet portals, to bring the talk show to China's potential 1.3 billion viewers. For an expat, this is bliss. For Chinese viewers, it's the newest wave of entertainment.

????The Ellen deal got attention in late January in part because it's the first U.S. talk show to be carried in China. Also, Ellen DeGeneres said "Ni Hao!" six times while breaking the news. But her show is just one of dozens of U.S. hits to arrive in China recently. Online videos sites have spent the past two years buying rights to U.S. dramas and sitcoms in a fevered attempt to bring Lost, CSI, Breaking Bad, and others to Chinese watchers. Sohu, the Ellen buyer, has purchased the rights to more than 50 U.S. shows. Youku.com (YOKU), its bigger competitor, has added 60.

????The Chinese online video industry is massive -- this year online ads should generate $2.95 billion in sales, according to IResearch. And now that piracy is being contained in China, the video sites are on a new buying spree. They started by acquiring Chinese and foreign content as fast as they could. Prices for shows and films skyrocketed. The video execs have started to carve out niches for themselves: Sohu has focused on "premier" U.S. fare like Ellen and The Big Bang Theory; Youku has British hits Sherlock and Downton Abbey; v.qq.com has CSI; and Iqiyi.com is focused on celebrity entertainment.

????After buying dramas and comedies, the sites are now wading into the next American genre -- live and unscripted entertainment.

????Last month Saturday Night Live announced a deal, again with Sohu, to carry new shows on the site. Sohu CEO Charles Zhang said he hoped SNL would attract not just the audience they already had, but also more high school and university viewers that advertisers clamor for. He said young audiences think being a fan of American culture exhibits class and standing. Zhang spoke at a December event promoting SNL where journalists asked him how the show's cultural references would be interpreted. He didn't seem bothered: subtitles!

????American TV shows account for 20% of Sohu's video clicks. Ellen falls into the same live entertainment niche as SNL and follows Sohu's formula of buying upbeat U.S. shows with tons of celebrity appearances. The deal came about after Warner Bros. Television, which distributes the show, heard interest from Sohu for Ellen as part of the site's push to take on bigger rivals Youku and Baidu's iQiyi, which recently merged in a $370 million deal with rival PPS. Ellen was a big win for the studio. "It has long been a goal to bring Ellen's unique brand of light entertainment to China," said Jeffrey Schlesinger, president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution, in an email.

????Sohu's video revenues tripled in the latest quarter, and the company continued to spend on video content and web infrastructure. But in a show of the costs involved in purchasing dozens of foreign TV shows like Ellen, Morningstar analysts don't expect the video business to turn profitable until 2015.