II. Discourse 第 13 題至第 16 題為題組          Disney promised investors in spring 2019 that a new video-streaming servicewould win between 60m and 90m subscribers by 2024. __13__ . In doing so it isfulfilling the digital-transformation plan set in motion three years ago by Bob Iger,Disney’s longtime boss, now its executive chairman.           Marketing muscle, crucial to success, has been backed up by “The Mandalorian”,a space western inspired by “Star Wars”. Such is its popularity that Disney was latemeeting demand for a plush-toy of its baby Yoda character. __14__ . Lockdowns meanextra hours to while away, notes Tim Mulligan of media Research.         Amid school closures Disney+ has been as trusty a baby-sitter as baby Yoda’snurse droid. Of all the new streaming services Disney+, which launched in westernEurope in March, just as lockdowns began, is the clear winner. Even so it has nottouched the leader, Netflix, which has 195m subscribers worldwide and over 70m inAmerica alone.          Disney’s other businesses have suffered because of the pandemic. Shuttered themeparks, closed cinemas and cancelled sporting events have taken their toll. In AugustDisney said covid-19 wiped out $3.5bn of operating profits at its parks, experiences andproducts division in three months. The company is expected to report another quarterlyloss on November 12th, after The Economist went to press. __15__ .         Disney+’s rapid success also underlines a doubt about the firm—whether MrIger’s choice of successor was correct. The favourite for the top job was Kevin Mayer,who designed and launched Disney+. Mr Iger chose Bob Chapek, a talented operatingexecutive who had been running theme parks. “Given the runaway success of Disney+it is even harder to understand how the theme park and home-entertainment executivegot the top job,” says Rich Greenfield of LightShed Partners, a research firm. Mr Mayerleft Disney this summer.         Will Mr. Chapek now bet heavily on Disney+? The firm as a whole lavishes nearly$30bn a year on original and acquired content but this year set aside only $1bn forDisney+. Netflix spends $15bn a year. The Disney service’s rich library is enough tokeep under-tens engaged but it may lose subscribers unless it regularly offers originalgrown-up fare. Third Point, an activist investor, wants Disney to stop its dividend andspend the $3bn a year on Disney+.           Disney could do more than that if it went “all-in” on streaming, dropping itscurrent system in which, for example, big-budget films go exclusively to cinemas, andputting everything it makes onto Disney+ at once. The service could then spend as muchas Netflix and raise its price from $6.99 per month to over $10.         __16__ . A more likely course is that Disney will move new content more rapidlyonto Disney+. It could also combine Disney+ with Hulu, a separate and successfulvideo-streaming service the firm took control of last year.          Disney is expected to announce in December that it will spend a lot more oncontent for the service. All eyes will be on whether Mr Chapek seems as tuned-in tostreaming’s bright future as Mr Iger was.
【題組】13.
(A) This would make for a huge global business but there is a danger that it wouldswiftly cannibalise the existing parts of Disney’s empire.
(B) The pandemic added a turbocharge, dashing fears that Disney+ and other newstreaming services, like hbo Max and Apple tv+, might struggle to attract timestarved consumers.
(C) Disney+ has outperformed that forecast spectacularly, hitting its five-yearsubscriber target in just eight months.
(D) Yet the streaming service’s subscriber gains have helped shield the firm’s shareprice.