Task 2Read Questions 1-8and Texts A,B,and Cabout streaming media Netflix below.Decide which text answers each question.For each blank,choose A,B,or Cthat stands for the text.Which text 1.predicts its growth potential in the short term?2.Implies that shareholders don't need to worry about Netflix?3.Mentions the fierce competition among streaming media?4.shows the Netflix's ambition in streaming service?5.Introduces the various choices Netflix has provided?6.Demonstrates the wide use of Netflix?7.Mentions that viewers could enjoy the comedies at home?8.shows that Netllix has achieved a lot in original content?Climate change will make flying worseText APeople are 30times more likely to laugh among others than alone;that's why stand-up comedians usually perform in front of a crowd.Netflix,the great disruptor of viewing habits,wants to move the natural home of comedy from the theatre to the sofa;this month’s offering was “Michael Bolton Big,Sexy,Valentine's Day Special”.Unlike stand-up on broadcast television,which must punctuate gags with advertisements,Netflix is able to offer uninterrupted laughs,sophisticated productions and plenty of choices.The streaming service currently hosts more than 170stand-up specials --big names such as Aziz Ansari,Jimmy Carr and Chelsea Peretti have established exclusive partnerships already --with more to come from Amy Schumer,Sarah Silverman and Jerry Seinfeld.Not to be outdone,Amazon prime Video uses stand-up to target the Asian market:14Indian comics'shows are due out in May.As on-demand services battle for the market share,comedy is not just a laughing matter.Text BWe've seen this movie before:a Silicon Valley company woos investors with the promise of future riches,while continuously reinvesting for the long haul.If Amazon is the godfather of that strategy,Netflix hopes to be the second one.When it reports earnings today,investors will look for signs of growth before scrutinizing the bottom line.The company added 7m subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2016.It expects to have added another 5.2m in the most recent quarter,for a total of 99m.But Amazon is catching up with its own streaming service.For now,Netflix manages to eke out a profit by amortising its huge content costs,but it is bleeding $2bn a year in cash.This year it may splash out $8bn on content,including on Stronger Things 2,a follow-up to its biggest hit of 2016.Unsustainable spending?It remains unclear whether Netflix itself will be a successful sequel.Text CHaving just received 54Emmy nominations for its original content,the video-streaming service faces a tougher audience when it reports its second-quarter earnings today.Netflix argues its aggressive strategy of going global and investing heavily in content will make the brand a defauIt choice in internet television.Investors will be looking closely at how the subscriber base,currently 82m,is growing.Shares took a tumble after the last earnings report,when Netflix lowered expectations with a projection of 2m new subscribers internationally (plus 500,000in America).Analysts at Moffett Nathanson have,with the help from Apptopia,a firm which tracks mobile phone apps and looks at the number of downloads on Apple and Android phones.Extrapolations suggest Netflix will beat its forecast with between 2.2m and 2.7m new subscribers internationally,plus 500,000to 900,000in America.That kind of news might send shares flying
Task 2Read Questions 1-8and Texts A,B,and Cabout streaming media Netflix below.Decide which text answers each question.For each blank,choose A,B,or Cthat stands for the text.Which text 1.predicts its growth potential in the short term?2.Implies that shareholders don't need to worry about Netflix?3.Mentions the fierce competition among streaming media?4.shows the Netflix's ambition in streaming service?5.Introduces the various choices Netflix has provided?6.Demonstrates the wide use of Netflix?7.Mentions that viewers could enjoy the comedies at home?8.shows that Netllix has achieved a lot in original content?Climate change will make flying worseText APeople are 30times more likely to laugh among others than alone;that's why stand-up comedians usually perform in front of a crowd.Netflix,the great disruptor of viewing habits,wants to move the natural home of comedy from the theatre to the sofa;this month’s offering was “Michael Bolton Big,Sexy,Valentine's Day Special”.Unlike stand-up on broadcast television,which must punctuate gags with advertisements,Netflix is able to offer uninterrupted laughs,sophisticated productions and plenty of choices.The streaming service currently hosts more than 170stand-up specials --big names such as Aziz Ansari,Jimmy Carr and Chelsea Peretti have established exclusive partnerships already --with more to come from Amy Schumer,Sarah Silverman and Jerry Seinfeld.Not to be outdone,Amazon prime Video uses stand-up to target the Asian market:14Indian comics'shows are due out in May.As on-demand services battle for the market share,comedy is not just a laughing matter.Text BWe've seen this movie before:a Silicon Valley company woos investors with the promise of future riches,while continuously reinvesting for the long haul.If Amazon is the godfather of that strategy,Netflix hopes to be the second one.When it reports earnings today,investors will look for signs of growth before scrutinizing the bottom line.The company added 7m subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2016.It expects to have added another 5.2m in the most recent quarter,for a total of 99m.But Amazon is catching up with its own streaming service.For now,Netflix manages to eke out a profit by amortising its huge content costs,but it is bleeding $2bn a year in cash.This year it may splash out $8bn on content,including on Stronger Things 2,a follow-up to its biggest hit of 2016.Unsustainable spending?It remains unclear whether Netflix itself will be a successful sequel.Text CHaving just received 54Emmy nominations for its original content,the video-streaming service faces a tougher audience when it reports its second-quarter earnings today.Netflix argues its aggressive strategy of going global and investing heavily in content will make the brand a defauIt choice in internet television.Investors will be looking closely at how the subscriber base,currently 82m,is growing.Shares took a tumble after the last earnings report,when Netflix lowered expectations with a projection of 2m new subscribers internationally (plus 500,000in America).Analysts at Moffett Nathanson have,with the help from Apptopia,a firm which tracks mobile phone apps and looks at the number of downloads on Apple and Android phones.Extrapolations suggest Netflix will beat its forecast with between 2.2m and 2.7m new subscribers internationally,plus 500,000to 900,000in America.That kind of news might send shares flying
