2006年NPR美国国家公共电台四月-The Marketplace Report: Keeping Up with T

Madeleine Brand: Back now with Day to Day, I'm Madeleine Brand. At the cable television industry's annual trade show this week, a lot of anxiety. Viewers now have other ways to watch TV shows, and they can control what and how they watch them. Cable executives are trying to figure out how to hang on to their audience. Bob Moon joins us now from the MARKETPLACE News Bureau in New York. Hi, Bob.

Bob Moon: Hi, Madeleine.

Madeleine Brand: Well, almost every day, we hear of a new kind of programming or technology coming at us, what is the cable industry up against?

Bob Moon: Well, have you, have you bought a video iPod yet?

Madeleine Brand: Not yet, but I've been looking at it.

Bob Moon: Maybe you have watched, maybe you have watched a show on your cell phone. That is, that's one of the other new things. This is just some of the areas, these are just some of the areas that are competing for eyeballs. And of course, they are competing for our dollars as well. The networks are rushing to put their TV shows online. Just yesterday, ABC announced it will be offering four of its prime time shows on the web for free starting next month. Those of us with broadband Internet connections will be able to watch: "Desperate Housewives", "Lost", "Alias¹" and "Commander in Chief" at the click of a mouse. Now, at that cable convention in Atlanta, industry executives have been putting a positive spin on this, they say this is really a good thing because it grows the pie of overall viewership, to use their term. ABC says it's not trying to cannibalize its own viewers here. The interesting thing is, though, ABC is putting these shows on the web, and it's selling downloadable programs by way of Apple's iTunes service, but it hasn't yet struck deals with the cable operators to offer shows on demand by cable. CBS and NBC have signed deals with Comcast. That service will be offering replays of shows for 99 cents. Other cable providers are looking to do the same. So, that seems to be the direction they're going.

Madeleine Brand: And so, how will they hang on to viewers who just say, you know, "No, I am more interested in taking programming with me."

Bob Moon: Well, they do, as, as I mention, they do plan to offer more of these on-demand programming services. They say that they've had promising² results with that kind of marketing³. They also might borrow an idea from this new free online venture that ABC just announced, those shows are supposed to be supported by advertising⁴ that you can't skip through, and that kind of offer could start showing up on these on-demand services if you don't wanna pay for it yourself.

Madeleine Brand: And Bob, what about programming on the Internet? Is that going to be the focus for some, for some programmers in the future?

Bob Moon: Yeah, that, that does seem to be the growth area for programming at this point. In fact, here's, here's a sign of the times. The Emmy Awards that are being given out later this month will feature a new category, the envelope, please, for original entertainment programming, created specifically for nontraditional viewing platforms. Six shows have been nominated that were produced specifically.

Madeleine Brand: Say that three times fast.

Bob Moon: Right, they, they were produced specifically for broadband. Today in the MARKETPLACE newsroom, we're looking at how taxpayers⁵ can get stuck paying the cleanup bills when environmental polluters declare bankruptcy⁶.

Madeleine Brand: Bob Moon of public radio's daily business show, MARKETPLACE. Thank you. It's produced by American Public Media...

Note------------
hang on to: to keep something; 紧紧握住
cannibalize: to deprive of vital elements or resources, such as personnel, equipment, or funding, for use elsewhere; 调拨

1 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

6 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。