Streaming Pays Off Well for Surfing
衝浪串流轉播 展現威力
By Talya Minsberg and Nick Corasaniti

Last December, as 21-year-old Gabriel Medina battled to be crowned surfing’s newest champion on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, millions in his native Brazil stayed glued not to their TVs, but to their tablets, laptops and mobile phones.
去年12月，21歲的加布瑞爾·莫迪納在夏威夷歐胡島北岸和海浪搏鬥，成為衝浪比賽最新冠軍的過程中，數百萬名祖國巴西的同胞不是守在電視機前，而是盯著平板電腦、筆電和手機。

An average of more than 6.2 million people tuned in live to watch the Billabong Pipe Masters, where Mr. Medina won his first title. Not a second of the surfing competition was shown on traditional live television; instead, it was streamed on YouTube, with 35 to 40 percent of its viewers on mobile.
平均超過620萬人收看同步實況轉播的「比拉邦衝浪大師賽」，這也是莫迪納贏得第一個冠軍的比賽。這項衝浪比賽完全沒有在傳統電視上同步轉播，相反地，它是在YouTube上串流播出，而在所有觀眾中有35%至40%是使用行動裝置收看。

“It was hard for us to realize a direct relationship to linear TV,” Paul Speaker, the chief executive of the World Surf League, said. “We’re a global sport, so there is always a time zone concern, and we have to wait for swells” – suitable wave conditions – “so we don’t have a start time and an end time like other sports.”
世界衝浪聯盟執行長保羅·史畢克說：「對我們而言，和線性電視維繫直接關係是很困難的。我們是全球性的運動，所以總會有時區上的考量。而且我們必須等待大浪來臨，也就是海浪適合的比賽條件，所以我們不像其他運動，沒有所謂的開始時間和結束時間。」

The World Surf League’s successful web-first broadcast strategy is at the leading edge of a gradual transformation taking hold in sports television. As more and more viewers move online and audiences become more global, the professional leagues have all adopted streaming as an important way to attract younger fans around the world. But the purity of surfing’s model – reaching millions of viewers online without being beholden to exclusivity contracts with broadcast and cable networks – demonstrates the power of online audiences for sports big and small.
世界衝浪聯盟成功的網路優先轉播策略，在逐漸改變中的體育電視方面正居於領導地位。當此愈來愈多的觀眾轉移到網路，且受眾愈來愈全球化之際，專業的運動聯盟皆把串流當作吸引全球年輕粉絲的重要方式。但是衝浪運動所採模式的單純性－觸及數以百萬計的網路觀眾，卻不受制於廣播電視及有線電視的獨家合約－展現了網路觀眾的力量，不分運動大小。

“It’s one of those things where there’s a lot of fans out there,” explained Matt McLernon, a spokesman for YouTube. “But they’re not necessarily combined enough into a media market where it makes sense to put this sporting event on TV. But when anyone can watch it online, you open up a whole concept.”
YouTube發言人麥特．麥勒能說：「這是擁有大批粉絲的眾多事物之一，但是他們不必然能和媒體市場結合，讓這項運動的賽事在電視上播放顯得合理。但當任何人都能上網觀看時，你就開啟了一項全新的觀念。」

All of the major sports leagues have embraced this. In the United States, the National Hockey League has teamed with the camera maker GoPro to bring real-time highlights to Twitter and Facebook. The Professional Golf Association tour is trying something similar with GoPros and the online network, Skratch TV.
所有主要的運動聯盟都抓住這股潮流。在美國，全國冰球聯盟和相機製造商GoPro合作，在推特和臉書放上即時精采畫面。職業高爾夫協會巡迴賽正試著和GoPro及網路電視Skratch TV從事類似的合作。

The big sports leagues, which still receive billions of dollars in lucrative programming contracts from traditional television networks, still mostly supplement their television broadcasts with online highlight packages and subscription-based web services.
大型運動聯盟和傳統電視網仍簽有好賺的轉播合約，收取數十億美元，在電視轉播之外附贈賽事菁華的網路方案，以及以訂戶為主的網路服務。

Professional surfing, on the other hand, has adopted an online-first approach. YouTube is its exclusive global digital partner.
然而職業衝浪則採用網路優先的方法，YouTube是他們的全球獨家數位夥伴。

“Our strategy has been, since the beginning, let’s remove all stop signs and turn them into welcome mats,” Mr. Speaker said. “YouTube has that footprint.”
史畢克說：「我們的策略打從一開始就是，移除所有『停止』標誌，改鋪上『歡迎』的地墊，YouTube就有這種效果。」

The World Surf League has solidified its growth in a key demographic: More than 67 percent of its audience is between 25 and 44 years old. Engagement across its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat accounts nearly doubled, while dwarfing engagement rates of larger, more established leagues.
世界衝浪聯盟在主要的人口群中已獲得穩定成長，超過67%的觀眾年齡介於25至44歲間，臉書、推特、Instagram和Snapchat的用戶人數幾乎翻倍，讓其他更大、更有規模的聯盟相形見絀。

After the World Championship Tour season broke its own audience records in 2014, the league hopes for the same this year.
在世界冠軍巡迴賽季2014年打破自己的收視紀錄後，聯盟期待今年也有相同佳績。

“We look to other sports for direction and examples, but for us, live streaming is our bread and butter,” Mr. Speaker said. “I think many people will be looking at us and say, ‘How’d they figure it out?’ ”
史畢克說：「我們注意其他運動，尋求方向和榜樣。但對我們而言，即時串流是我們吃飯的傢伙。我想許多人會看著我們說：『他們是怎麼做到的？』」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/business/media/world-surf-league-takes-web-first-approach-to-drawing-viewers.html

2015-03-10聯合報/G5版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 莊蕙嘉譯 原文參見紐時週報八版下