【雅思课外精读】Disney+如何保持辉煌
【雅思课外精读】Disney+如何保持辉煌 原文译文 *注：本文选自11月14日《经济学人》
The streaming kingdom
流媒体王国
Disney strikes streaming-TV gold
迪士尼流媒体卫冕
A spectacular first year for Disney+
Disney+辉煌的一年
1. DISNEY PROMISED investors in spring 2019 that a new video-streaming service would win between 60m and 90m subscribers by 2024. Disney+ has outperformed that forecastspectacularly, hitting its five-year subscriber target in just eight months. In doing so it is fulfilling the digital-transformation plan set in motion three years ago by Bob Iger, Disney’s longtime boss, now its executive chairman.
迪士尼2019年春向投资者承诺，到2024年，其流媒体服务将有6000万至9000万用户。Disney+的业绩显著超过了这一预测，仅用8个月就实现了5年的订户目标。这样一来，迪士尼就完成了三年前由鲍勃•伊格尔启动的数字转型计划。伊格尔是迪士尼老板，现在是迪士尼执行主席。
2. Marketing muscle, crucial to success, has been backed up by “The Mandalorian”, a space western inspired by “Star Wars”. Such is its popularity that Disney was late meeting demand for a plush-toy of its baby Yoda character. The pandemic added a turbocharge, dashing fears that Disney+ and other new streaming services, like HBO Max and Apple TV+, might struggle to attract time-starved consumers. Lockdowns mean extra hours to while away, notes Tim Mulligan of MIDiA Research.
《曼达洛人》是一部灵感来自《星球大战》的西部片，迪士尼的营销对此片的成功至关重要。该片大受欢迎，以至于迪士尼的毛绒玩具尤达供不应求。此次疫情更是火上浇油，让迪士尼和其他一些流媒体服务比如HBO Max, Apple TV+等都担心无法吸引消费者。MIDiA Research的蒂姆•穆里根指出，封锁意味着有更多的时间可以消磨。
3. Amid school closures Disney+ has been as trusty a baby-sitter as baby Yoda’s nurse droid. Of all the new streaming services Disney+, which launched in western Europe in March, just as lockdowns began, is the clear winner. Even so it has not touched the leader, Netflix, which has 195m subscribers worldwide and over 70m in America alone (see chart).
在学校停课期间，Disney+一直扮演着和尤达宝宝的保姆机器人一样的角色。在所有新的流媒体服务中，Disney+显然是赢家。迪士尼+于今年3月在西欧推出，那时候正是新冠封锁开始的时候。即便如此，Disney+也还是赶不上领头羊Netflix，Netflix在在全球有1.95亿用户，仅在美国就有超过7000万用户(见图表)。
4. Disney’s other businesses have suffered because of the pandemic. Shuttered theme parks, closed cinemas and cancelled sporting events have taken their toll. In August Disney said covid-19 wiped out $3.5bn of operating profits at its parks, experiences and products division in three months. The company is expected to report another quarterly loss on November 12th, after The Economist went to press. Yet the streaming service’s subscriber gains have helped shield the firm’s share price. It has fallen but by far less than its peers.
迪士尼的其他业务也因疫情受到影响。主题公园关闭了，电影院也关闭了，体育赛事也取消了，这些都给迪士尼造成了损失。今年8月，迪士尼表示，受新冠疫情影响，3个月内，迪士尼的公园，体验服务和产品营业利润减少了35亿美元。迪士尼预计将在11月12日经济学人付印后报告另一个季度的亏损。然而，流媒体服务的用户收益保住了公司的股价。迪士尼股价虽然有所下降，但其下降幅度远低于同行。
5. Disney+’s rapid success also underlines a doubt about the firm—whether Mr Iger’s choice of successor was correct. The favourite for the top job was Kevin Mayer, who designed and launched Disney+. Mr Iger chose Bob Chapek, a talented operating executive who had been running theme parks. “Given the runaway success of Disney+ it is even harder to understand how the theme park and home-entertainment executive got the top job,” says Rich Greenfield of LightShed Partners, a research firm. Mr Mayer left Disney this summer.
Disney+的迅速成功也凸显了人们对艾格的继任者选择是否正确的怀疑。最受欢迎的总裁人选是凯文·梅尔，他设计并推出了Disney+。但是伊格尔选择了鲍勃•查佩克，这位才华横溢的运营主管曾负责主题公园的运营。研究公司LightShed Partners的里奇•格林菲尔德表示:“鉴于Disney+的巨大成功，更难理解这位负责主题公园和家庭娱乐的运营主管是如何获得最高职位的。”梅尔今年夏天从迪士尼离职。
6. Will Mr Chapek now bet heavily on Disney+? The firm as a whole lavishes nearly $30bn a year on original and acquired content but this year set aside only $1bn for Disney+. Netflix spends $15bn a year. The Disney service’s rich library is enough to keep under-tens engaged but it may lose subscribers unless it regularly offers original grown-up fare. Third Point, an activist investor, wants Disney to stop its dividend and spend the $3bn a year on Disney+.
查佩克现在会在Disney+上下重注吗?整个公司每年在原创和收购内容上花费近300亿美元，但今年仅为Disney+留了10亿美元，而Netflix每年在其流媒体上的花费为150亿美元。迪士尼丰富的图书能够吸引那些十几岁以下的青少年，但是如果不定期提供针对成人用户的内容，迪士尼可能会流失客户。维权投资者Third Point希望迪士尼停止派发股息，将这30亿美元用在Disney+身上。
7. Disney could do more than that if it went “all-in” on streaming, dropping its current system in which, for example, big-budget films go exclusively to cinemas, and putting everything it makes onto Disney+ at once. The service could then spend as much as Netflix and raise its price from $6.99 per month to over $10.
迪士尼如果能够在流媒体上做到全力投入，那么，它可以采取更多措施，比如，取消大预算电影只在电影院上映的规定，并把公司制作的所有产品都放到Disney+上。如果这样，Disney+的花费可能会和Netflix一样多，并且其收费也会从6.99美元上升至10美元以上。
8. This would make for a huge global business but there is a danger that it would swiftlycannibalise the existing parts of Disney’s empire. A more likely course is that Disney will move new content more rapidly onto Disney+. It could also combine Disney+ with Hulu, a separate and successful video-streaming service the firm took control of last year.
这将带来巨大的业务，但也存在着迅速蚕食迪士尼帝国现有部分的危险。更有可能的做法是，迪士尼将更快地把新内容搬到Disney+上。迪士尼还可以将Disney+和Hulu结合起来，Hulu是迪士尼去年收购的一家独立的视频流媒体服务公司。
9. Disney is expected to announce in December that it will spend a lot more on content for the service. All eyes will be on whether Mr Chapek seems as tuned-in to streaming’s bright future as Mr Iger was.
预计迪士尼将在12月宣布在Disney+的内容上投入更多资金。所有人都想知道恰佩克是否像伊戈尔一样了解流媒体的光明未来。
