• by Masha Geller , September 5, 2002

Before I send you off to the weekend with some truly valuable research stats, a quick housekeeping item: We received an overwhelming response to our Forecast 2003 registrations. There is still room, but it’s going fast. If you’re interested in attending, you'll need to register at mediapost.com/forecast. Once again, the theme of the day will be forecasting the year to come – for better or worse. We’ll have industry luminaries debate everything from online creative, email, and CRM, to agency consolidation and a slew of other hot topics. It’s at the Yale Club on Thursday. Sept. 26. That’s less than three weeks to go, folks.

That said, a new Arbitron and Edison Media Research study released yesterday shows exactly why EVERYONE should be interested in online advertising. According to the findings of these venerable researchers, when compared with traditional media, one out of five Americans feel that the Internet is the "most essential" medium to their lives.

According to the study, "Internet 9: The Media and Entertainment World of Online Consumers," Americans chose the Internet and TV (34% and 35%, respectively) as the most “cool and exciting” media. Nearly half (46%) of 12-to-34 year-olds chose the Internet, with 29% choosing TV as the “most essential” medium to their lives.

The study also confirms that superfast at-home broadband connections continue to grow despite the slowing economy. Residential broadband adoption has doubled in the last 18 months, jumping from 13% of those with at-home Internet access in January 2001 to 28% in July 2002. Furthermore, this growth trend appears to be far from over. According to the study, one out of five of those with dial-up home Internet access intends to convert to broadband in the coming year.

The study also shows that record numbers of Americans continue to consume Internet audio and video. As of July 2002, an estimated 83 million Americans have now experienced Internet audio or video. The number of people who have listened to audio or watched video online in the past month grew slightly from the prior year – from 37 million in July 2001 to 38 million in July 2002.

According to the findings, access to the Internet has leveled off at approximately 70% of all Americans. Despite the slowing growth of Internet adoption, the average daily time spent online continues to steadily increase, approaching one hour per day. In July 2002, Americans reported spending an average of 58 minutes online per day, up from 41 minutes in July 2001.