Traditional viewing is in terminal decline—but we’re more passionate about our favourite shows than ever.
传统电视节目的收视率一蹶不振，但我们观看节目的热情空前高涨。
EastEnders1 was what might once have been referred to as a classic of the soap opera genre.
《东区人》似乎曾被称为肥皂剧中的经典之作。
The actor who plays Freddie， Bobby Brazier， is the son of Jeff Brazier2 and the late Jade Goody3.
饰演弗雷迪的演员博比·布雷齐尔是杰夫·布雷齐尔和已故的杰德·古迪的儿子。
Brazier’s performance was first class， surrounded by concerned EastEnders veterans， watching nervously for his character’s welfare.
布雷齐尔的表演堪称一流。他身边围着一群忧心忡忡的《东区人》老演员， 他们都紧张兮兮地关注着布雷齐尔所饰角色的安危。
It may well pick up trophies.
这个角色很可能得奖。
Yet one important ingredient was missing， to alchemise Freddie Slater into a true fictional totem of his times： a massive audience.
然而，要将弗雷迪·斯莱特这个虚构角色打造成他所在时代的真正标志，缺少一个重要因素：庞大的观众群。
The average time spent watching TV in Britain is down a hefty 12 per cent， from 2.59 hours a day in 2021 to 2.38 hours in 2022. We know that young people have drifted away from traditional television shown at regular intervals on a prearranged schedule.
英国人看电视的平均时长大幅下降12%，从2021年的每天2.59小时减少到2022年的每天2.38小时。我们都知道，年轻人已经逐渐远离按预定时间表定时播放的传统电视节目。
We probably could have guessed that TikTok’s share of the non-traditional broadcast market has spiked， averaging a peak hour a day for teenagers. But the old folk have joined in now， too. For the traditional 65+ market， who have kept the life raft afloat for soaps for well over a decade， traditional TV viewing is down 10 per cent. While BBC1 is still comfortably the most watched channel on TV， pensioners have caught the bug4 for streaming rivals.
或许我们都能猜到，在非传统的节目播放市场上，TikTok的份额急剧增长，平均每天都有长达一个小时的青少年收视高峰。现在，老年人也已加入其中。守旧的65岁以上人群10多年来一直支撑着肥皂剧的救生筏，但如今这一群体观看传统电视节目的收视率下降了10%。虽然英国广播公司第一台依旧稳坐收视率最高电视台的宝座，但是领退休金的老人们已经开始沉迷于电视台的竞争对手——流媒体。
Disney+ alone has seen a sizable seven per cent increased share among this age bracket.
仅迪士尼的流媒体平台在65岁以上年龄段的市场份额就大幅增长了7%。
The fresh statistics showed two major patients sitting limp in the waiting room of TV’s truest gauge of success： soap operas and news bulletins.
最新的统计数据显示，在最能判定电视节目成功与否的候诊室里，坐着两位无精打采的重症病人——肥皂剧和新闻简报。
Where once a major event on a soap could draw an audience of up to 20 million， shows reaching an audience of more than four million have halved in the last decade， to just over 200 in 2022.
曾经，肥皂剧中的关键情节可以吸引多达2000万观众，而在过去10年中，观看人数超过400万的节目减少了一半，2022年只有200多档。
