特朗普成爲美國脫口秀“金礦”

Donald Trump is turning out to be a gold mine for his comic foes on late-night television, lifting ratings and advertising revenues for shows that deliver the sharpest criticism of the new US president.

唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)看起來對深夜電視節目的喜劇演員簡直是一座金礦，那些最猛烈抨擊美國新總統的節目的收視率和廣告收入上升。

On CBS’s Late Show, Stephen Colbert has homed in on politics, helping him unseat NBC’s Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as the Most-watched nightly chat show for three straight weeks.

在美國哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS)的《深夜秀》(Late Show)節目中，斯蒂芬?科爾伯特(Stephen Colbert)近來專注於政治議題，這幫助他連續3周超過美國國家廣播公司(NBC)由吉米?法倫(Jimmy Fallon)主持的《今夜秀》(Tonight Show)，成爲觀衆人數最多的深夜脫口秀節目。

Late-night television is an important source of profit and cultural cachet for US broadcasters. NBC has long dominated the networks’ rivalry, but Mr Colbert has widened his lead to nearly 300,000 viewers in the week ending February 17, the most since he debuted on CBS in 2015.

深夜電視節目是美國各廣播公司重要的盈利和文化威望來源。NBC長期主導着各家廣播公司之間的競爭，但科爾伯特在2月17日結束的那一週將領先優勢擴大至近30萬觀衆，這是他自2015年在CBS首次主持節目以來達到的最高水平。

Across the TV dial, audiences are flocking to a brand of biting political satire that largely originated with Jon Stewart at Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, but which has now spread to the television mainstream. Daily Show alumni include Mr Colbert on CBS, John Oliver on HBO and Samantha Bee on TBS.

縱觀各個電視頻道，觀衆紛紛轉向犀利的政治諷刺節目，這種節目在很大程度上源於由喜劇中心頻道(Comedy Central)的約翰?斯圖爾特(Jon Stewart)主持的《每日秀》(The Daily Show)，但現在已是主流電視節目的一部分。曾主持過《每日秀》的演員包括CBS的科爾伯特、HBO的約翰?奧利弗(John Oliver)以及TBS的薩曼莎?比(Samantha Bee)。

Mr Colbert had suffered declining ratings at CBS since he succeeded David Letterman at the Late Show desk. He struggled to win over viewers after dropping the blustery rightwing pundit character that made him a star on Comedy Central. In August 2016, his audience dipped below 2m for the first time.

自擔任《深夜秀》主持人、接替大衛?萊特曼(David Letterman)以來，科爾伯特的收視率一度連連下降。在放棄狂轟亂炸的右翼評論員角色——該角色曾讓他成爲喜劇中心頻道的明星——之後，他似乎很難贏得觀衆。2016年8月，他的觀衆人數首次降至200萬以下。

But Mr Trump's ascendancy appears to have sharpened the focus of Mr Colbert and his writers on the frenetic Washington news cycle, and the ratings trend is now in reverse. Viewership grew 3 per cent in January from a year ago, and has now reached 3m, 30 per cent above last summer’s lows, according to Nielsen figures.

但特朗普的崛起似乎讓科爾伯特及其寫作人員更加關注華盛頓發狂似的新聞週期，如今收視率趨勢出現了逆轉。尼爾森(Nielsen)的數據顯示，1月觀衆人數同比增長3%，如今達到300萬人，與去年夏季的低點相比增長了30%。

On CBS’s earnings call last week, Les Moonves, chief executive, talked up Mr Colbert’s contribution to the network’s “great story in late night”. CBS said advertising revenue for the network’s nightly line-up, which also includes Britain’s James Corden, increased 10 per cent in 2016 and was on pace to grow again this year.

在CBS上週的電話財報會議上，首席執行官萊斯?穆弗斯(Les Moonves)誇讚了科爾伯特對該公司“深夜偉大故事”的貢獻。CBS表示，該網絡的深夜節目——還包括英國的詹姆斯?科登(James Corden)主持的節目——實現的廣告收入在2016年增長了10%，而且今年有望進一步增長。

“Colbert’s show has become more aggressively political. That’s probably responsible for his numbers going up. He’s found a comedic strategy similar to that which made him Popular before,” said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture.

美國雪城大學(Syracuse University)的布萊爾電視和流行文化中心(Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture)主任羅伯特?湯姆森(Robert Thomson)表示：“科爾伯特的節目變得在政治上更加咄咄逼人。他的觀衆人數很可能因此增長。他找到了一個與之前躥紅類似的喜劇策略。”

In contrast, The Tonight Show’s ratings have slipped 14 per cent since January 2016, as Mr Fallon has taken a softer approach to political subjects. He drew criticism for a September interview with Mr Trump in which he mussed the then-Republican nominee’s hair and asked a series of unchallenging questions.

相比之下，《今夜秀》的收視率自2016年1月以來下降14%，法倫對政治話題的評論較爲溫和。他在去年9月對特朗普的採訪招致批評，當時他揉亂了還是共和黨總統候選人的特朗普的頭髮，還問了一系列沒有挑戰性的問題。

Mr Fallon still leads in the 18- to 49-year-old age group most desired by advertisers, but Mr Colbert is closing in.

在最受廣告客戶重視的18歲到49歲觀衆羣體中，法倫的收視率仍高居榜首，但科爾伯特正在緊緊追趕。

Other shows are already reaping financial rewards from presidential parody.

其他節目已經在從總統模仿秀中獲得財務回報。

NBC’s Saturday Night Live is drawing its biggest average audiences in 24 years, with total viewership up 26 per cent this season from a year ago, according to Nielsen figures cited by the network.

NBC援引尼爾森的數據表示，該廣播公司《週六夜現場》(Saturday Night Live)吸引的平均觀衆人數創出24年來的最高水平，本季總的收視率同比增長26%。

The variety show’s February 11 edition was the most-watched episode in eight years as viewers tuned in to watch Alec Baldwin reprise the role of the president, Melissa McCarthy skewer Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, and Kate McKinnon lampoon both Jeff Sessions, the attorney-general, and Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s adviser.

2月11日播出的這檔綜藝節目是8年來觀衆人數最多的一期，觀衆們踊躍收看亞歷克?鮑德溫(Alec Baldwin)再度模仿特朗普總統，梅利莎?麥卡錫(Melissa McCarthy)模仿白宮新聞發言人肖恩?斯派塞(Sean Spicer)，以及凱特?麥金農(Kate McKinnon)模仿兩人：司法部長傑夫?賽辛斯(Jeff Sessions)和特朗普顧問凱莉安妮?康韋(Kellyanne Conway)。

The ratings bump has allowed NBC, owned by Comcast, to charge advertisers more money. The average cost of a half-minute spot on SNL increased 86 per cent in January from a year ago, according to Standard Media Index, which tracks ad agency spending.

收視率飆升讓康卡斯特(Comcast)旗下的NBC可以向廣告客戶收取更多費用。追蹤廣告公司支出的標準媒體指數(Standard Media Index)的數據顯示，《週六夜現場》半分鐘廣告平均成本在1月份同比上漲86%。

The trade magazine Adweek estimated that SNL’s ad revenue rose 34 per cent to $2.1m for its January 14 episode and 22 per cent to $2m for January 21. Overall, NBC saw a 9.8 per cent gain in ad spending for the month.

業內雜誌《Adweek》估計，《週六夜現場》在1月14日節目的廣告收入增長34%，至210萬美元，在1月21日節目的廣告收入增長22%，至200萬美元。整體而言，NBC在1月份的廣告收入增長了9.8%。

“The attention on SNL since the Trump administration took office is paying off well for NBC,” SMI said.

標準媒體指數表示：“《週六夜現場》自特朗普政府就任以來的人氣飆升，爲NBC帶來了豐厚的回報。”