好莱坞电影行业的改革

好莱坞电影公司正考虑对电影租借方式进行重大改革。华纳兄弟在欧洲多个国家发起视频点播推广活动。
Hollywood studios are eyeing a significant shift in the way they make their films available to rent after Warner Brothers launched a Europe-wide video-on-demand push.
　　
这家制作了《哈利．波特》系列和近期《宿醉》等热门影片的电影公司，已经开始在DVD发行同日，向英国、德国和法国的有线电视用户提供影片点播。
The studio behind the Harry Potter series and recent hits such as The Hangover has started making its films available to cable television subscribers in the UK, Germany and France on the same day the titles are released on DVD.

华纳兄弟公司热切希望推动人们转向视频点播，因为这种形式的创收要优于DVD租借，当今人们购买的DVD数量减少了，而DVD是过去十年好莱坞的现金制造机器。
The studio is keen to move people to video-on-demand because it generates better returns than DVD rentals at a time when people are buying fewer DVDs – Hollywood's cash engine for the last decade.
　　
华纳兄弟的欧洲视频点播推广活动——与维珍和德国电信等合作伙伴共同展开——是继美国推广试验之后开展的。该活动促使华纳兄弟公司及其竞争对手同时发行影片DVD及视频点播。
Warner Bros' video-on-demand push in Europe – with partners which include Virgin and Deutsche Telekom – follows a US trial. It led the studio and its rivals to make titles available on video-on-demand and on DVD at the same time.
　　
其它电影公司，包括制作了本年度最热门影片之一《2012》的索尼影视娱乐公司，也正考虑在欧洲采取类似举措。
Other studios, including Sony Pictures Entertainment, which had one of the year's biggest hits with 2012, are also considering such a move in Europe.
　　
华纳兄弟计划明年开始在韩国于DVD发行前两周推出视频点播。公司还计划在美国进行同样的尝试。
Next year Warner Bros plans to begin releasing its films in South Korea via video-on-demand two weeks before they appear on DVD. The studio is planning a similar trial in the US.

尽管美国DVD销售低迷，但得益于Netflix这样的订购服务和Redbox这样的租借亭，租借收入有所增长。不过视频点播的创收要高得多——为电影公司带来每部电影0.65美元，而DVD租借为0.25美元。
While DVD sales are down in the US, rental revenues are up, thanks to subscription services such as Netflix and kiosk services like Redbox. Yet video-on-demand generates significantly better returns – about $0.65 per film for the studio against $0.25 from a DVD rental.

好莱坞一直不愿意在DVD发行的同时通过其它平台发布电影，以免收入遭到侵蚀。这意味着一部影片在电影院上映、发行DVD和在付费电视上播放之间往往存在较长的间隔。
Hollywood has shied away from releasing movies on other platforms at the same time as the DVD to stem the erosion of revenues. This means there are often lengthy gaps between a film's cinematic release, its appearance on DVD and its broadcast on pay-TV.

华纳兄弟国际家庭影视和数字发行总裁吉姆．伍丝里奇表示，由于有线电视合作伙伴的市场营销努力，在美国同步发行视频点播和DVD的一些案例中，实际上提高了DVD销售。
Jim Wuthrich, president, international home video and digital distribution at Warner Bros, said simultaneous video-on-demand and DVD release in the US had actually boosted DVD sales in some cases because of the marketing effort of the company's cable TV partners.