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China's most powerful propaganda outlet is grappling with a problem familiar to media companies world-wide: How to keep advertisers in the digital age.
中国最有影响力的宣传媒体正在应对全球媒体行业普遍存在的一个问题：在数字化时代如何留住广告客户？
China Central Television this week departed from past practice and declined to disclose results of a closely watched auction for advertising slots for next year. In a written response to questions, the state-run broadcaster said only that its ad-auction sales growth this year was in line with the country's economic growth. China's economy grew 7.8% in the third quarter from a year earlier.
与往年不同，中国中央电视台本周没有公布备受关注的2014年广告招标结果。这家国有电视台只是在回答记者问题的书面回复中说，今年央视广告招标额增幅与国家经济增幅一致。今年第三季度中国经济同比增幅为7.8%。
By comparison, last year's auction resulted in an 11% increase in revenue over 2011, reaching an all-time high of 15.9 billion yuan ($2.61 billion at current exchange rates). Previously, the auction had seen a 14% yearly sales rise in 2011 and 16% increase in 2010.
相比之下，去年的央视广告招标额同比增长11%，达到人民币159亿元的历史高点（以当前汇率计算合26.1亿美元）。2011年和2010年的招标额同比分别增长了14%和16%。
Meanwhile, Beijing-based advertising company Charm Communications, which brokers ad buys and tracks CCTV's ad auction each year, estimated that ad purchases by beverage companies declined 12% in this year's auction compared with a year ago. It said ad buys from information-technology companies fell 28%, while financial-sector purchases were down 51%. Charm said the biggest drop came from alcohol bidders, whose ad buys plummeted 85% in the midst of government austerity efforts that have made drinking spirits less acceptable and even forbidden at official banquets.
据总部位于北京的广告公司昌荣传播(Charm Communications)估计，今年招标会上饮料公司购买广告的金额比上年同期下降了12%。信息科技公司的广告购买金额下降了28%，金融类公司购买金额下降了51%。昌荣传播表示，此次招标会广告招标额降幅最大的是白酒行业，同比下降了85%。这是因为政府提倡节俭作风，在公务宴请上饮酒被限制甚至被禁止。昌荣传播撮合广告交易，并跟踪每年的央视广告招标。
CCTV's ad auction results in past years were seen as a barometer of China's fast-growing advertising industry as well as its overall economy. But this year's comes as companies ranging from Coca-Cola Co. and Procter & Gamble Co. are reconsidering how to reach out to a Chinese public spending increasing amounts of time online. About 45% of 900 Chinese people surveyed by China-based research firm ZDC this year said they have stopped watching TV, while 23% said they watch it every day and 21% watch frequently. The other 11% only watch TV on weekends, the survey said.
多年以来，中央电视台广告招标的结果都被视为中国迅速成长的广告业乃至整个经济的晴雨表。但今年的招标会境况不同，包括可口可乐公司(Coca-Cola Co., KO)和宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble Co., PG)在内的很多企业都在重新思索：在中国公众上网时间越来越长的情况下如何向他们推送广告。根据总部位于中国的研究公司ZDC的一项调查，今年接受调查的900个中国人中，有45%说他们已经不再看电视，而23%说他们每天都看电视，21%经常看电视。调查显示，另有11%的人只在周末看电视。
'The pressure is on,' said Steven Chang, chief executive of ad forecasting firm ZenithOptimedia's China division.
广告预测公司实力传播(ZenithOptimedia)中国区首席执行长郑香霖(Steven Chang)说，目前压力很大。
CCTV vowed to move swiftly to go where the ad dollars are going. It said it would use online tools such as mobile apps and scannable codes to bring more viewers to its digital content. Its phone and tablet applications let users watch streaming live TV, while its website gives access to past programming.
中央电视台誓言要跟随广告市场的动向迅速调整战略。中央电视台说，将利用移动应用、可扫描代码等网络工具吸引更多人浏览其数字内容。用户可以通过其手机和平板应用程序实时观看电视节目，从央视网站还可看到过去的节目。
It also said it would increasingly cooperate with China's satellite broadcasters, which have drawn increasing ratings through crowd-pleasing talent and dating shows. This month CCTV joined forces with popular Hunan Satellite to simultaneously broadcast the drama series 'Let's Get Married.'
央视还称，将与中国卫视频道展开更多合作，这些卫视频道通过人气颇高的选秀和相亲节目而获得越来越高的评价。本月，中央电视台与湖南卫视同步播出电视剧《咱们结婚吧》。
A sprawling mix of commercial broadcaster and tool of Beijing's might, CCTV holds unmatched power in China's media landscape. Its Spring Festival gala, an inoffensive variety show broadcast every Lunar New Year, is one of the world's most-watched broadcasts every year, with 750 million tuning in this year.
作为商业电视台和政府宣传工具的综合体，央视在中国媒体版图上具有得天独厚的优势。每年农历新年播出的央视春节联欢晚会是每年全球观众人数最多的节目之一，今年吸引了7.5亿人观看。
Foreign companies have historically flocked to advertise on the network--even as they have contended with occasional critical coverage. CCTV news stories this year about Western corporations ranging from Apple Inc. to KFC parent Yum Brands Inc. prompted apologies and corrective actions by the companies.
虽然偶尔会受到批评性报道的影响，但外资企业通常都会争相在央视投放广告。中央电视台今年针对苹果公司(Apple Inc.)和肯德基(KFC)母公司百胜餐饮集团(Yum! Brands Inc., YUM)等西方企业的新闻报道促使这些公司道歉并采取整改等行动。
But in recent years CCTV has seen its audience shrink. An estimated 36% of the population watched the Spring Festival gala this past Lunar New Year, down from 40.8% in 2009, according to data from marketing and media research firm CSM Media Research.
但近年来，收看央视节目的观众一直在减少。据营销与媒体研究公司央视-索福瑞媒介研究有限公司(CSM Media Research)的数据显示，去年春节中国约有36%的人观看了央视春节晚会，低于2009年的40.8%。
CSM Media Research is China's leading TV-ratings agency, and has been criticized in the past by people affiliated with CCTV when it reports dropping ratings for the network.
央视-索福瑞媒介研究有限公司是中国领先的电视收视率调查机构，过去该公司报道央视收视率下滑时，曾受到与央视有关的人的批评。
CCTV said it didn't disclose information about the 2014 ad auction because the format changed this year. It said it made more sales before this week's live auction took place, adding that there would be no way to accurately compare information. CCTV also said it feared that media outlets would 'wrongly interpret' information and 'confuse consumers' with the new figures.
央视说，之所以没有披露有关2014年广告招标的信息，是因为今年的招标计划有一些变化。央视说，本周招标会前的签约认购额有所增长，并表示，不可能准确比较信息。央视还说，担心媒体机构会错误地解读广告招标结果，使消费者对新数据产生误解。
Media watchers said they believed a slowdown was behind the move. 'It couldn't sustain growth rates it had before,' said Mr. Chang, of ZenithOptimedia.
媒体观察人士说，他们认为央视此举背后的原因是广告销售放缓。实力传播的郑香霖说，央视无法保持过去的增幅。
'The clothes of the emperor are disappearing and they can't let that show,' said Tom Doctoroff, Asia chief executive of WPP PLC's JWT ad agency.
WPP PLC旗下广告机构智威汤逊(JWT)的亚洲首席执行长唐锐涛(Tom Doctoroff)说，皇帝的新装正在消失，他们不能让其显露出来。
Some liquor companies say they are backing off for reasons other than the austerity push. In previous years, liquor company Sichuan Swellfun Co. spent hundreds of millions of yuan on CCTV ads, but not this year, said managing director James Rice. 'I changed because we are a premium brand with more targeted consumer base and CCTV is not the right way to talk to our consumers,' he said, adding that digital ads allow the company to home in efficiently on target customers. 'CCTV is like carpet bombing,' said Mr. Rice.
一些酿酒厂商说，他们是出于政府厉行节俭之举以外的其他原因减少投放的。酒业公司四川水井坊股份有限公司(Sichuan Swellfun Co.)董事总经理赖斯(James Rice)说，过去几年该公司曾在央视广告上投入人民币数亿元，但今年不这样做了。赖斯说，我之所以改变了做法，是因为我们是一个高端品牌，有着更为明确的目标消费层，而在央视上投放广告并非向我们的消费者传达信息的正确方法。他还说，数字广告使该公司能够有效地专注于目标消费者。他说，在央视打广告就像是地毯式轰炸。
Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble say they are still advertising on the network but are revving up digital pushes. 'Over the recent years, we have increased our focus, engagement and investment in digital connection points, including online video, social media and mobile apps, ' a spokeswoman for Coke said. The companies declined to break down specific marketing data.
可口可乐和宝洁说，它们仍在央视上投放广告，但正在加大投放数字广告的力度。可口可乐发言人说，近几年，我们增加了在数字连接点（包括在线视频、社交媒体和移动应用）的关注、参与和投入。可口可乐和宝洁拒绝披露详细的营销数据。
To be sure, many companies still see CCTV as a place to make their mark. Car companies, such as Volkswagen AG, VW's Audi arm and Daimler AG, all bought spots, according to media buying agency Starcom MediaVest Group.
诚然，很多公司仍将央视视为一个可以帮助其扬名的地方。据媒体广告位购买代理机构星传媒体集团(Starcom MediaVest Group)说，大众汽车(Volkswagen AG)、其旗下的奥迪(Audi)以及戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)等汽车企业都购买了央视的广告位。
Ad sales from insurance companies more than doubled from a year earlier, according to Charm.
据昌荣传播说，来自保险公司的广告销售额同比增长了一倍以上。
Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd., one of China's largest home-appliance retailers, pledged 131 million yuan to become the sole sponsor of the Spring Festival gala, according to Charm.
据昌荣传播说，中国最大的家电零售商之一国美电器(Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd.)以人民币1.31亿元获得央视春晚相关冠名权。
CCTV also expects to gain more viewers and ad dollars during the World Cup, Asian Games and Winter Olympics in 2014, the network said.
央视还预计在2014年世界杯、亚运会和冬奥会期间，将有更多的收视率和广告收入。
CCTV said it would continue to innovate. It is teaming with film director Feng Xiaogang to overhaul this year's Spring Festival Gala and is co-producing several new TV series with a handful of local media companies.
央视说，将继续创新。央视正在与电影导演冯小刚一同对今年的春晚进行全面调整，并且正在与一些地方媒体公司联合制作几部新电视剧。
In recent years it has developed additional content and channels, such as English news, a documentary channel, a children's channel and a sports station, which are all free-to-air. Its app for phones and tablets streams its content and those of local networks, like Beijing and China's southwestern city of Chongqing.
近年来，央视开发了更多的内容和频道，比如英语新闻频道、纪录频道、儿童频道和体育频道，这些均为免费收视频道。央视手机和平板电脑应用可以播放央视的内容和地方电视台的内容，比如北京和重庆的电视台。
