晨读英语美文60篇60 What Will iPod Do for Television

[00:00.00]What Will iPod Do for Television?

[00:04.41]Apple’s iPod profoundly changed the way people experience music.

[00:10.77]What will it do for television?

[00:12.63]The industry was intrigued by Wednesday’s announcement

[00:16.24]that episodes of the hit ABC shows “Desperate Housewives”

[00:20.83]and “Lost” will be available for Apple’s new video iPod.

[00:24.31]Episodes will go on sale for $1.99 on iTunes

[00:30.34]the day after they are broadcast.

[00:32.09]For ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co.,

[00:35.58]the bet is that the new technology will bring in more new fans of the programs

[00:40.51]than will be taken away from watching them on traditional broadcast television.

[00:45.32]The network’s affiliates were not told the deal was in the works before Wednesday,

[00:50.35]and they’re the people most likely to be concerned about its impact.

[00:54.30]Now the iPod will join digital video recorders and DVDs

[00:59.00]as another way of seeing television programs

[01:01.84]other than their regularly scheduled times on the ABC stations.

[01:06.32]Leon Long, chairman of ABC’s affiliate board said if viewers

[01:11.57]have the choice of watching “Desperate Housewives”

[01:14.54]on their wide-screen television with surround sound or a two-inch iPod screen,

[01:20.15]they will almost certainly watch it on TV.

[01:22.44]The iPod option will likely be attractive to people who missed an episode

[01:27.25]and want to keep up with the story, he said.

[01:29.89]He noted that two of the three series ABC is offering to iTunes

[01:35.14]are serials that require viewers to follow story lines that play out over several months.

[01:40.62]Initially, the downloads might also appeal to techies

[01:44.43]who want to try out the new product and might not necessarily be fans of the programs,

[01:49.58]which could bring these shows a new audience.

[01:52.21]As for the chance it will pull people away from his station, Long said,

[01:57.03]“It’s certainly a risk but I don’t think it’s a great risk.”