Has Streaming Killed the TV Moment?流媒体已取代传统电视？

Traditional viewing is in terminal decline—but we’re more passionate about our favourite shows than ever.

传统电视节目的收视率一蹶不振，但我们观看节目的热情空前高涨。

EastEnders1 was what might once have been referred to as a classic of the soap opera genre.

《东区人》似乎曾被称为肥皂剧中的经典之作。

The actor who plays Freddie， Bobby Brazier， is the son of Jeff Brazier2 and the late Jade Goody3.

饰演弗雷迪的演员博比·布雷齐尔是杰夫·布雷齐尔和已故的杰德·古迪的儿子。

Brazier’s performance was first class， surrounded by concerned EastEnders veterans， watching nervously for his character’s welfare.

布雷齐尔的表演堪称一流。他身边围着一群忧心忡忡的《东区人》老演员， 他们都紧张兮兮地关注着布雷齐尔所饰角色的安危。

It may well pick up trophies.

这个角色很可能得奖。

Yet one important ingredient was missing， to alchemise Freddie Slater into a true fictional totem of his times： a massive audience.

然而，要将弗雷迪·斯莱特这个虚构角色打造成他所在时代的真正标志，缺少一个重要因素：庞大的观众群。

The average time spent watching TV in Britain is down a hefty 12 per cent， from 2.59 hours a day in 2021 to 2.38 hours in 2022. We know that young people have drifted away from traditional television shown at regular intervals on a prearranged schedule.

英国人看电视的平均时长大幅下降12%，从2021年的每天2.59小时减少到2022年的每天2.38小时。我们都知道，年轻人已经逐渐远离按预定时间表定时播放的传统电视节目。

We probably could have guessed that TikTok’s share of the non-traditional broadcast market has spiked， averaging a peak hour a day for teenagers. But the old folk have joined in now， too. For the traditional 65+ market， who have kept the life raft afloat for soaps for well over a decade， traditional TV viewing is down 10 per cent. While BBC1 is still comfortably the most watched channel on TV， pensioners have caught the bug4 for streaming rivals.

或许我们都能猜到，在非传统的节目播放市场上，TikTok的份额急剧增长，平均每天都有长达一个小时的青少年收视高峰。现在，老年人也已加入其中。守旧的65岁以上人群10多年来一直支撑着肥皂剧的救生筏，但如今这一群体观看传统电视节目的收视率下降了10%。虽然英国广播公司第一台依旧稳坐收视率最高电视台的宝座，但是领退休金的老人们已经开始沉迷于电视台的竞争对手——流媒体。

Disney+ alone has seen a sizable seven per cent increased share among this age bracket.

仅迪士尼的流媒体平台在65岁以上年龄段的市场份额就大幅增长了7%。

The fresh statistics showed two major patients sitting limp in the waiting room of TV’s truest gauge of success： soap operas and news bulletins.

最新的统计数据显示，在最能判定电视节目成功与否的候诊室里，坐着两位无精打采的重症病人——肥皂剧和新闻简报。

Where once a major event on a soap could draw an audience of up to 20 million， shows reaching an audience of more than four million have halved in the last decade， to just over 200 in 2022.

曾经，肥皂剧中的关键情节可以吸引多达2000万观众，而在过去10年中，观看人数超过400万的节目减少了一半，2022年只有200多档。

The big winners are royal events such as Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and the King’s Coronation， live inter-national football fixtures5 and unusual upswing in interest in the Eurovision Song Contest6.

最大的赢家是英国王室活动，如女王伊丽莎白二世的葬礼和国王的加冕典礼；还有定期直播的国际足球比赛，以及关注度异常高涨的欧洲电视网歌唱大赛。

Outside these occasions， we are looking squarely at the death of television as a shared， communal crowd-puller.

在这几种重大场合之外，我们正目睹电视作为吸引众人聚集一堂的媒介渐渐消亡。

The outlook is bleak for old screen habits， which now look to be in terminal decline， robbing us of those collective dramatic moments which helped gauge the mood. TV was once the medium which effortlessly crossed class and age， embracing all in its butterfly net.

过去惯用的观看方式前景黯淡，现在看来正走向末路，我们因此失去了有助于激发情绪的集体观剧时刻。电视曾是一种毫不费力就能跨越阶层和年龄的媒介，能将所有人“一网打尽”。

Every other day， still， I’ll take a call from my mum and， with metronomic regularity， the third question， post “How are you？” and “What are you having for your tea？” will be “So， what are you watching then？”

每隔一天，我仍会接到妈妈的电话。在“你好吗？”和“下午茶吃了什么？”之后，第三个问题就是“你在看什么节目？”非常有规律。

There is always common ground. We’ve both been avidly watching The Sixth Commandment on BBC iPlayer， the exceptional dramatic retelling of the real-life calculated murderer， Ben Field.

我们总是有共同话题。我们都热衷于在英国广播公司的流媒体平台上观看《第六诫》。这部剧对现实生活中的蓄意杀人犯本·菲尔德进行了非常精彩的戏剧性重述。

There will more than likely be a brief interlude from her on a preposterous dress worn by a minor character on And Just Like That...， Sky’s extension of the Sex and the City brand， which she picks up on Now TV.

我妈妈非常有可能会插一两句嘴，说天空电视台的《就这样……》中有个配角穿了条可笑的裙子，不过她是在电视台旗下的流媒体平台上看的这部《欲望都市》衍生剧。

Now， there is a Netflix show or two added into the chatter， too. Well into her eighties， she understands the workings of non-terrestrial TV like a teenager.

如今，我和妈妈闲聊时也会提起一两个奈飞的节目。虽然年过八旬，但我妈妈像十几岁的孩子一样了解非地面网播平台的运作方式。

A movement in viewing habits has been discernible from Ofcom findings since the dawn of the streaming age.

自流媒体时代开始以来，从英国通信管理局的调查结果中可以看出观看习惯的变化。

For over a decade our habits have atomised to more nuanced and personal schedules. The idea of a set time for a set show has disintegrated， with catch-up options adding to the palette of screen options.

十多年来，我们的观看习惯已经分化，节目单趋于细致、个性化。随着屏幕菜单栏中增加了“点播”选项，在固定时间观看固定节目的观念已经瓦解。

For soaps and the news， there are obvious reasons for declining viewership.

对肥皂剧和新闻节目来说，收视率下降的原因显而易见。

The plethora of 24-hour news programming first dented the idea of set bulletins at set times. Audiences diminished.