MediaCritic: Network executives allege that television viewership is decreasing due to the availability of television programs on other platforms, such as the internet and mobile devices. These executives claim that declining viewership will cause advertising revenue to fall and networks will thus be unable to spend the large sums necessary to produce high quality programming. That development, in turn, will lead to a death of programming for the very devices that cannibalized television audience. However, research shows that users of alternative platforms are exposed to new programs and, as a result, actually increase the numbers of hours per week that they watch television. This demonstrates that alternative platforms will not prevent networks from increasing advertising revenue.

The portions in boldface play which of the following roles in the media critic's argument ?


(A) The first is an inevitable trend that weighs against the critic's claim; the second is the claim.
(B) The first is a prediction that is challenged by the argument; the second is a finding upon which the argument depends.
(C) The first clarifies the reasoning behind the critic' s claim; the second demonstrates why that claim is flawed.
(D) The first acknowledges a position that the technology executives accept as true; the second is a consequence of that position.
(E) The first opposes the critic's claim through an analogy; the second outlines a scenario in which that claim will not hold.