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1. Cable TV
1. 有线电视
Cable television's heyday is over. Subscribers have been declining since 2004, and analysts say there's no end in sight. Roughly 54.8 million households currently pay for cable TV, down 3.3% from 2012 and down 17.6% from a decade prior, according to research firm IHS. Cable companies are expected to shed roughly 1.3 million subscribers in 2014.
有线电视的黄金时代已经结束了。有线电视用户2004年以来一直在减少，分析师称，预计这种态势还将继续保持下去。研究公司IHS的数据显示，目前约有5,480万个家庭付费收看有线电视，较2012年减少3.3%，较十年前减少17.6%。预计在2014年有线电视公司将损失约130万用户。
The decline is due in part to so-called cord-cutters: consumers who are canceling cable and transitioning to lower-cost services, such as Hulu and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) , which provide much of the same programming at a fraction of the price. Using an Internet connection, consumers can stream many cable shows, news programs and sports games, as well as movies, directly to their TVs. Some channels' websites also provide viewers access to their shows. (MarketWatch recently launched a calculator - Are you ready to cut the cord? - that allows consumers to find the shows they normally watch through such lower-cost options.)
有线电视用户的减少在一定程度上要归因于所谓的“剪线族”(cord-cutter)：这些消费者取消有线服务，转向Hulu和Netflix等费用较低的服务，后者提供的节目与有线电视基本相同，但价格要便宜得多。通过互联网连接，用户可以将许多有线电视节目、新闻报道、体育比赛和电影直接串流到电视上观看。一些电视频道还允许观众通过其网站收看节目。（MarketWatch近期推出了一个名为“你为剪线做好准备了吗？”的计算工具，可让消费者通过这类费用较低的选择方案找到他们通常收看的节目）
These services are mostly beneficial for people who do not mind watching shows after they've aired and are willing to part with most live programming.
这些服务主要适合那些不介意观看非实时节目，愿意与大多数直播节目挥手告别的人士。
