在迪士尼接近百年的歷史中,做過(guò)最正確的決策,或許就是2009年四十多億美元巨資收購(gòu)漫威。后來(lái)的幾年,僅是漫威系列電影的票房就達(dá)到了63億美元。超級(jí)英雄也在大眾文化娛樂(lè)中占據(jù)了核心地位,讓迪士尼在周邊衍生、主題樂(lè)園等方面開辟更多財(cái)源,成為更強(qiáng)大的賺錢機(jī)器。
測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí):
subscriber 用戶
merchandise 商品
sequel 續(xù)集
prop 支撐
grossing 總額
reverberate 回彈
By Matthew Garrahan in New York
The blockbuster box office performance of The Avengers: Age of Ultron powered Walt Disney to record third-quarter profits,with the media group also reporting improved performances at its theme parks and consumer products divisions.
Profits beat analyst estimates — the 11th consecutive quarter that Disney earnings have come in ahead of forecasts — but revenues were lower than forecast. This was partly a consequence of weakness in the euro,which hit Disneyland Paris revenues by $100m.
Bob Iger,chief executive,began an earnings call mounting a robust defence of ESPN,Disney's sports cable network,which has lost some subscribers as viewers reassess their cable television bills and move to cheaper packages.
Mr Iger said there were no plans to move ESPN to an “over the top” service — and go direct to consumers — as other sought after channels such as HBO,have done. ESPN had embraced technology “better than anyone else in traditional media”,he said,adding that watching television via cable and satellite was still “the dominant form of viewing”.
Operating income at Disney's cable networks division rose 7 per cent to $2.1bn,thanks to a better performance from the Disney Channel,Disney's ABC Family network — and ESPN.Frozen,Disney's 2013 Oscar-winning hit continues to generate strong returns. Merchandise associated with the movie and Disney's upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens lifted consumer products profits 27 per cent to $348m.
Disney's movie studio,meanwhile,generated operating income of $472m — a 15 per cent increase on the comparable period last time,due to the performance of The Avengers sequel and Cinderella.
Results at the studio were held back by Tomorrowland,the George Clooney science fiction movie,which performed worse than expected at the box office. However,Inside Out,from Disney's Pixar division,propped up the studio's returns.
Star Wars fans are counting the days until the December release of the new film. Analysts expect the movie to be among the biggest grossing releases ever.
“We're making no estimates whatsoever in what we think the film will do,” said Mr Iger. However,he added that the company owned “the most valuable film franchise that ever existed. We fully expect the success of this film to reverberate throughout the company this year and beyond.”
Earnings per share of $1.45 beat analyst estimates. Revenues across the company rose from $12.5bn to $13.1bn while net income increased from $2.2bn to $2.5bn.
Disney shares fell more than 6 per cent in after-market trading.
1.What caused Disney's revenues to be lower than forecast?
A.Weakness in the euro
B.Declining overall profits
C.Poor performance in consumer products divisions
D.Increasing subscribers of ESPN
[1] 答案
2.The better performance of which departments is not related to the increasing operating income at Disney's cable networks division?
A.Disney Channel
B.Consumer products divisions
C.Disney's ABC Family network
D.ESPN
[2] 答案
3.Which of the following movies is mentioned as performing worse than expected at the box office?
A.Tomorrowland
B.Inside Out
C.Frozen
D.The Avengers: Age of Ultron
[3] 答案
4.When will the new film of Star Wars be released ?
A.In September
B.In Octorber
C.In November
D.In December
[4] 答案
[1]答案:A.Weakness in the euro
解釋:文章第二段提到迪士尼公司本季度利潤(rùn)低于預(yù)測(cè)有部分原因是歐元疲軟導(dǎo)致巴黎迪士尼營(yíng)業(yè)額受沖擊。
[2]答案:B.Consumer products divisions
解釋:文章第五段提到迪士尼公司的有線電視網(wǎng)絡(luò)分部業(yè)績(jī)上升,主要是由于迪士尼頻道、ABC家庭和ESPN的更好表現(xiàn)。
[3]答案:A.Tomorrowland
解釋:文章第八段提到電影《明日世界》的票房表現(xiàn)低于預(yù)期。
[4]答案:D.In December
解釋:文章第九段提到《星球大戰(zhàn)》的粉絲正熱切期待十二月發(fā)布的電影續(xù)作。