The most noticeable trend among today’s media companies is vertical integration—an attempt to control several related aspects of

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问题     The most noticeable trend among today’s media companies is vertical integration—an attempt to control several related aspects of the media business at once, each part helping the other. Besides publishing magazines and books, Time Warner, for example, owns Home Box Office (HBO), Warner movie studios, various cable TV systems throughout the United States and CNN as well. The Japanese company Matsushita owns MCA Records and Universal Studios and manufactures broadcast production equipment.
    To describe the financial status of today’s media is also to talk about acquisitions. The media are buying and selling each other in unprecedented numbers and forming media groups to position themselves in the marketplace to maintain and increase their profits. In 1986, the first time a broadcast network had been sold, two networks were sold that year—ABC and NBC.
    Media acquisitions have skyrocketed since 1980 for two reasons. The first is that most big corporations today are publicly traded companies, which means that their stock is traded on one of the nation’s stock exchanges. This makes acquisitions relatively easy.
    A media company that wants to buy a publicly owned company can buy that company’s stock when the stock becomes available. The open availability of stock—these companies means that anybody with enough money can invest in the American media industries, which is exactly how Rupert Murdoch joined the media business.
    The second reason for the increase in media alliances is that beginning in 1980, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gradually deregulated the broadcast media. Before 1980, for example, the FCC allowed one company to own only five TV stations, five AM radio stations, and five FM radio stations; companies also were required to hold onto a station for three years before the station could be sold. The post-1980 FCC eliminated the three-year rule and raised the number of broadcast holdings allowed for one owner. This trend of media acquisitions is continuing throughout the 1990s, as changing technology expands the market for media products.
    The issue of media ownership is important. If only a few corporations direct the media industries in this country, the outlets for differing political viewpoints and innovative ideas could be limited.
What do Time Warner and Matsushita have in common?

选项 A、They both belong to Rupert Murdoch.
B、They are both big American media corporations.
C、They are both outlets of differing viewpoints and innovative ideas.
D、They both own several different but related media businesses.

答案D

解析 本题是一道具体细节题。问时代华纳公司和松下公司有什么相似之处。利用查阅式阅读法,我们发现文章第一段指出,传媒公司目前最引人注目的趋势是“纵向结合”——它们企图同时控制传媒业中的几个相关环节,使之相互促进。例如,时代华纳公司除了出版杂志和书籍之外还拥有HBO、华纳电影制片公司、遍布美国的有线电视网以及CNN。日本的松下公司拥有MCA唱片公司、全球制作室电影制片公司并制造广播影视设备。因此,本题的正确答案应是D“它们都拥有几种不同但又相关的传媒业公司业务”。
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