今年上午，雅虎問答（Yahoo Answer）等一系列雅虎資產(chǎn)的新東家——威瑞森公司（Verizon）發(fā)布了今年第二季度的財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告。雖然這筆人們期待已久的交易終于一錘定音，但是這里要指出的是，這筆交易尚未完全收官。（由于雅虎收購(gòu)案的交易結(jié)構(gòu)相當(dāng)復(fù)雜，因此這筆交易可能還需要6至9個(gè)月才能收尾。）

與此同時(shí)，Twitter也將于今晚發(fā)布它的收益狀況。自從迪克·科斯特羅辭去CEO職位，聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人杰克·多西重新掌權(quán)以來，已經(jīng)過去了整整一年。但是Twitter仍然沒有搞清楚一個(gè)自誕生以來就糾纏著它的問題：“Twitter究竟是什么？”對(duì)于杰克·多西最近給出的答案“Twitter就是生活”，大家顯然不是很買賬。昨天，Titter新推出了一支名叫“看看發(fā)生了什么”的廣告，將其自身定義為一個(gè)政治新聞引擎。這支廣告強(qiáng)調(diào)了Twitter的最大賣點(diǎn)：不管Facebook、YouTube、Instagram和Snapchat這些社交應(yīng)用怎么努力地競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，Twitter始終還是政治家、商業(yè)領(lǐng)袖、運(yùn)動(dòng)員甚至是坎耶·維斯特等娛樂明星發(fā)布重要聲明的首選之地。

在今晚的收益電話會(huì)議上，估計(jì)會(huì)有不少人提到關(guān)于Twitter最近進(jìn)軍體育視頻直播的問題——Twitter開通視頻直播以來，也的確從電視臺(tái)搶走了不少收視率。最近Twitter接連與MLB、NHL、NBA和NFL等頂級(jí)體育賽事簽訂了視頻轉(zhuǎn)播協(xié)議，很多人不禁懷疑Twitter可能將成為ESPN等體育頻道的收購(gòu)目標(biāo)。在本月初于阿斯彭舉辦的《財(cái)富》腦力風(fēng)暴科技峰會(huì)上，迪士尼公司的CEO鮑勃·艾格就坦率地指出，他認(rèn)為ESPN最終需要從傳統(tǒng)的有線電視服務(wù)中走出來，謀求新的發(fā)展。

Twitter高達(dá)130億美元的市值或許會(huì)令潛在收購(gòu)商望而生畏。但ESPN要做的只是等待。

2007年，雅虎曾拒絕了一筆高達(dá)440億美元的收購(gòu)邀約。然而不到十年，威瑞森就以只有當(dāng)初十分之一的價(jià)格（48億美元）將雅虎收入囊中。如果說雅虎的命運(yùn)對(duì)我們有什么啟示的話，那就是要想讓一家深陷泥潭的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司扭虧為盈，幾乎是不可能的事——同樣近乎不可能的，是料定什么時(shí)候?qū)⒐境鍪鄄攀钦_的時(shí)機(jī)。

最新：近日Twitter聲明稱，該公司將不再在Periscope上直播其收益電話會(huì)議。該公司在其官方Twitter頁(yè)面上表示：“從本周二的收益電話會(huì)議起，我們將重新啟用傳統(tǒng)的音頻電話會(huì)議。對(duì)于投資者的反饋，我們將采用音頻對(duì)最重要的問題進(jìn)行回答。我們已決定停用Periscope.” （財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

This morning Verizon , the proud new owner of Yahoo Answers, among other assets, reports its second-quarter financials. Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo has been expected for months, and we’re not done yet! (Because of Yahoo’scomplicated deal structure, this thing will take six to nine months to close.)

Meanwhile, Twitter will announce its earnings this evening. It has been a year since Dick Costolo resigned as CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey returned. But Twitter still struggles to answer the question that’s plagued its entire existence: “What is Twitter?” Dorsey’s most recent answer, “Twitter is ‘live’ ” hasn’t really stuck. Yesterday, Twitter unveiled a new ad campaign playing up its role as a political news engine with the message, “See what’s happening.” It emphasizes Twitter’s biggest selling point: No matter how aggressivelyFacebook , YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat try to compete, Twitter is still the go-to place for politicians, business leaders, athletes, and Kanye West to make important announcements.

During its call tonight, I’ll be listening for questions about Twitter’s recent push into sports—the last bastion of live television viewing. Its recent spate of livestreaming deals with MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL has prompted speculation that Twitter might be a takeover target for the likes of ESPN. AtFortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger was candid in his assessment that ESPN will eventually need to move away from traditional cable packages.

Twitter’s $13 billion market cap makes such a deal feel too expensive. But maybe all ESPN has to do is wait.

In 2007, Yahoo rejected a $44 billion takeover offer. Less than a decade later, Verizon got it for one-tenth that price, a relatively modest $4.8 billion. If Yahoo’s fate tells us anything, it’s that turning around a struggling Internet asset is nearly as impossible as knowing the right time to sell.

Update: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Twitter will not longer broadcast its earnings calls on Periscope. The company announced the news via tweet:”Starting with Tue’s earnings, we’ll move back to an audio-only call. Investor feedback was that audio stream + Q&A most important. decided to stop using Periscope.”