Note to the television networks：Pete Brandel is not missing. He’s right here， butlike a lot of other 20 something men he’s just not watching as much TV.
Mr. Brandel， a 24-year-old real estate agent in Chicago， says that these days he looks to the Internet for news and entertainment. Television， he says， is bogged down by commercials and teasers① that waste his time.
People would download their favourite movies from the Web site rather than wait to see them on TV.
A huge part of a highly prized slice of the American population was watching less television. Viewership among men from 18 to 34 fell sharply. And for the youngest group of adult men， those18 to 24， the decline was a steeper②， which is the severe beat on the TV industry.
In a world where fortunes are made and lost over the evanescentjitterings of fractions of audience share， theNielsen announcement was the equivalent of a nuclear strike， asmallpox outbreak and a bad hair day all rolled into one.
The underlying shift in viewership made perfect sense. The so-called missing men might be more aptly called the missing guys， and they are doing what guys do：playing games， obsessing over sports and girls， and hanging out with buddies③—often online.
The rapid expansion of high-speed Internet access lets the computer become the video jukebox④ that people use to watch what they like.The seemingly inexhaustible⑤ appetite for computer games， DVD players， music and video file sharing—and， yes， online pornography⑥—all contribute to the trend. While no one activity is enough to account for the drop ， all of them together create a vast cloud of diversion that has drawn men inexorably away from television.
Besides， given that nearly 75 percent of males 18 to 34 have Internet access， making them the most wired segment of the population. By comparison， 57percent of men from 35 to 44 are online.
Between the allure of high-speed Internet services， computer games and other activities， you begin to have the ability to get entertained and distracted⑦ in a million ways， and not just television.
It is impossible to say that a rise in one kind of activity corresponds precisely to a drop in another. But study after study show that those in the age range of the “missing guys” are devoting much more of their time and attention to interactions that take them away from passive activities like watching TV.
The trend of Internet functions being stronger and stronger and young men watching somewhat less television is clear， which made the position of main medium for advertising on television face being frightened.
① teaser n. 戏弄者，喜欢戏弄别人的人
② steeper n. 浸润器
③ buddiesn. (=buddy)兄弟，军中伙伴
④ jukebox n. 自动唱片点唱机
⑤ inexhaustible adj. 无穷无尽的
⑥ pornography n. 色情文学，色情描写
⑦ distracted adj. 心烦意乱的
拒绝电视青睐网络
现在很多二十多岁的年轻男女都不太愿意看电视，相反，他们对于上网浏览新闻或是下载音乐却是情有独钟、乐此不疲。
例如，24岁的芝加哥市房地产代理佩特·伯兰德尔(Pete Brandel)就表示，他更喜欢上网查看新闻而不是看电视，因为电视上太多的广告是在浪费时间。
人们宁愿到他们喜欢看的影视网站上下载要看的电影，也不去等着电视播放。
美国公众当中青年精英喜欢看电视的人越来越少，年龄在18到34岁的男性当中，爱看电视的比例下降了，而年龄在18到24岁的年轻男性当中，这一比例下降了更多。对于电视行业而言，这无异于致命一击。
这潜在的变化说明了一定的问题。所谓的“消失人群”最大程度倾向于指消失的孩子们，因为这些人们现在也正做着孩子们做的事情，如更加习惯于在网上打游戏、浏览体育新闻以及与好友在线聊天等。
再加上宽带接入服务的扩展，计算机已经成了一个视频“百宝盒”，越来越丰富的网上游戏、DVD电影、音乐以及动画，甚至包括色情照片在内等内容均促使网络更加受到欢迎。上述因素中的任何一个都不足以导致年轻人爱看电视的比例下降，但它们合在一起却导致青年一族“无情地”远离电视。
另外，年龄在18到34岁的男性当中将近75%的人均有上网的条件，使得这一年龄段的用户成为上网频率最高的一群人。与之形成对比的是，35到44岁的男性当中只有57%的人上网。
随着网络娱乐功能的日益增强，再加上越来越多的年青人越来越少地看电视，这使得电视作为登载广告的主要媒介的地位面临威胁。
在各种各样的高速因特网服务，如电脑游戏等许多功能中间，可以获得快乐娱乐之感终而心烦意乱的，不仅仅只有电视能让人们产生这种效果。
很难说这种功能日益上升，就对应着另一种功能会下降。但是，一次又一次的研究表明，那些年龄范围内的“消失的人”把他们更多的时间和精力更多地投入到使他们能远离被动的活动中，如看电视等。
网络的娱乐功能日益增强，这使得电视作为登载广告的主要媒介的地位开始面临威胁。