Private-equity group Veronis Suhler Stevenson just issued an interesting report detailing the relative positions of traditional media companies and their online competitors. And believe it or not, VSS finds that traditional media companies are holding their own in the digital space. Of the $22 billion expected to be spent on online and mobile advertising in the U.S., VSS says traditional media companies' share is forecast to be 37 percent--up from 23 percent in 2000. By 2010, when Internet and mobile spending is expected to reach $44 billion, VSS expects that traditional media companies' share will remain high at $17 billion, …

No need for Yahoo, MSN and AOL to worry about YouTube's surging popularity yet. YouTube still isn't making any money, partly because advertisers are worried about associating themselves with the site's content, which is often ripped-off, sexually suggestive, or just plain weird. That, of course, may change over time--because the temptation to reach young people is huge, especially for certain advertisers. But will YouTube steal dollars from Google and Yahoo? "I don't see that right now," says Wall Street analyst Martin Pyykkonen of Global Crown Capital. Analysts expect advertisers to stick with the sites they know and trust, like NYTimes.com …

A massive telecommunications bill may die this year, due to a rift over Net neutrality, according to CNET. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the chairman of the U.S. Senate panel, suggested Tuesday that he was no longer confident he could drum up the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster on the proposal. It would--among other things--change the way the government subsidizes rural telecommunications and determine whether Congress should pass new laws barring network operators from prioritizing certain Web content. The bill also considers whether those operators should be able to make money and partnership deals with third-party content providers that …

NBC President Bob Wright declared earlier this week that iVillage would become the centerpiece of the broadcaster's efforts online. That means NBC's digital future belongs to women. iVillage is a community site that is popular with women between 30 and 50 years old--and unless NBC changes that, the media giant looks set to pigeonhole itself with a specific audience. However, if NBC wants to make iVillage the focus of its online push, then the broadcaster would do well to make iVillage more MySpace-like, says Bambi Francisco of MarketWatch. The women's community site costs NBC Universal about as much as MySpace …

Venture capitalist Baris Karadogan says the greatest opportunity for investment on the Web isn't online video. If the ad industry is to grow from $16 billion to $30 billion in 5 years, he says it will be because new ad formats and new places to put them crop up. "Our eyes are already beginning to ignore the 'ad gutter,' no matter how relevant the search engines are trying to make them," he says, adding that the long-term success of pre- and post-roll ads is still questionable. What will the future be? Online ads inserted into video content, he says. There …

For phone companies, landline revenues are declining, and will continue until there's nothing left. Cell-service revenues are also declining, due to pricing pressure. The next area of growth for them and mobile content providers will undoubtedly be ad revenue. And if the movement of Google and Yahoo is any indication, that future is here. Just as it did with Internet advertising, search will lead the way, and mobile video, music downloads and other data services will follow. Right now, only 15 percent of the mobile-phone population (28 million people) has downloaded some type of multimedia content on their phones in …

At a press conference today, Apple Computer is expected to announce some sort of movie download service, like the one introduced by Amazon.com last week. However, says Paul R. La Monica of CNNMoney.com, the hardware maker will hope the reaction for its movie service is more positive than the "collective yawn" Amazon received from analysts for its Unbox. The comments "Too little too early," "a little too far ahead of its time," and "not really out of the box" were some of the reactions from analysts. Amazon's Unbox came to market with a limited offering of movies that cannot be …

It was expected that AT&T would take a stab at Web TV, following in the footsteps of competitors like Sprint Nextel and Comcast. Today, the telecom giant is unveiling AT&T Broadband TV, which will be available to high-speed Web users for $20 per month. Subscribers get access to 20 channels, which they can watch on a computer, laptop or mobile device, provided that their Web connection is at least 500 kilobits per second. The idea is that AT&T will eventually be able to offer Web and TV service from the same place for one combined price, but their big problem …

Despite a spate of new online initiatives--including online video deals with AOL and Apple's iTunes--NBC Universal plans to center its online activities around iVillage, the women's portal the GE-controlled group bought for $600 million in March. This comes straight from Bob Wright, NBC Universal's chief executive. Wright's assertion comes in anticipation of the relaunch of iVillage's Web site, which attracts about 15 million users a month, mostly women between the ages of 30 and 50. Wright says the redesigned site will feature video and community tools, highlighting the opportunity for cross-branding with NBC programs, like the "Today" show. "You're going …

Marketers are reaching kids where they live: MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. JP Morgan Chase, looking to foster loyalty among college kids who like to use their credit cards, recently hired students at 300 college campuses to produce sponsored food-and-game incentives that would appeal to young people. Instead of using its Web site, it chose Facebook as the medium to reach students. That's just one example of how social networks serve as bulletin boards to get messages out. Marketing initiatives that involve young people need to go farther than placing banner ads on a Web site. They have to speak directly …