台美網路新聞產業長尾經濟之整合研究

Abstract

各國網路新聞產業普遍面臨受眾成長停滯, 收入不足以應付支出, 和內容充斥傳統 媒體影子等幾項挑戰. 以美國為例, 網路新聞受眾的比例約占所有網路使用者的七成, 這個數字從2002年以來沒有多大成長; 網路媒體的廣告收入雖逐年增加, 不過實際營收 比例卻只占媒體總收入的個位數. 以內容來看, 平面新聞網站多為文字照片, 廣電新聞 網站則提供影音或未加編輯的過音稿. 少有媒體利用網路特性打造獨一無二的新聞內 容. 這些挑戰的成因很多, 其中一個關鍵因素是網路新聞媒體尚未找到適當的商業模式. Chris Anderson 觀察許多在網際網路成功的企業並在2004 年提出長尾理論, 簡單來說, 由於網路貨架陳列不受到時間、空間的限制, 有辦法延伸產品品項或顧客客層的企業, 將有機會創造源源不絕的長尾商機. 因此本研究的主要研究問題是長尾理論可以套用到 網路新聞產業嗎? 本研究將探究(1)台灣和美國網路新聞產業中是否存在長尾結構和(2) 此長尾結構與市場表現是否具有顯著關係. 研究者將整合長尾理論, 市場區隔, 市場表 現等概念, 進而發展成一個長尾經濟的理論模式. 而這個模式將藉由內容分析, 個案研 究, 和次級資料分析等研究法在台灣和美國蒐集佐證資料. 研究成果將提供長尾理論應 用在網路新聞產業的豐富解釋, 更提供台美兩國的差異分析.

Online news industry worldwide has met several challenges: stagnant audience, unprofitable business, and repurposing content. Take the United States for example, the percentages of American Internet users go online for news haven’t change much since 2002; the sheer amount of Internet advertising revenue accounts for only single digit percentage points of total advertising dollars; the content of online news also is far from mature in terms of the application of multimedia or interactivity. The challenges may be caused by many factors, one of which is the lack of appropriate business models for online news sites. Chris Anderson has done a masterful job of explaining how successful e-businesses are expanding their tails to reach previously unreachable customers. So, is there any long tail economy in the online news industry? This research seeks to uncover the relationship between Anderson’s The Long Tail and market performance in the online news industry across Taiwan and the U.S.. The researcher integrates relevant theoretical concepts from the long tail anatomy, market segmentation, and market performance to develop a conceptual model of a long tail economy. This model is employed to collect data from content analysis, case study, and secondary data analysis in Taiwan and the U.S.. The synthesis will provide rich explanations of the application of the long tail economy in the online news industry as well as offer differential insights across countries.