• by March 8, 2004

GRAY LADIES WITH RED FACES -- Ordinarily, intrepid reporting is associated with the efforts that go into writing Pulitzer Prize-winning stories, not reporting on the prizes themselves. But that's just what trade mag Editor & Publisher seems to have accomplished. At least that's what it's telling its readers in a story that purports to lead the finalists for this year's Pulitzers. Unfortunately, E&P is a magazine and does not qualify for the prestigious newspaper awards.

A publication that was eligible, but is noticeably light in this year's nominations is the New York Times. The Gray Lady is in contention for the relatively lightweight categories of "commentary" and "editorial" and secured a nomination for "investigative reporting," but was otherwise absent most of the hard news categories that it normally dominates.

Could this be backlash to the whole Jayson Blair affair? Unclear. But what is clear is that the Pulitzer judges appear to have shifted their allegiances from the East Coast's Times to the West Coast's. The Los Angeles Times led this year's pack with nine nominations, followed by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, with four each.

THE YEAR OF BROADBAND -- As far as milestones are concerned, 2004 is shaping up to be quite a year. Already, one respected source - eMarketer - estimates that online penetration (68 percent) has surpassed cable TV's (67 percent, not including satellite TV), and now broadband Internet access appears to be growing at a faster clip than many had thought. About 25 million homes now have some form of broadband access, according to estimates released today by market researcher Leichtman Research Group. While that's only 22 percent of U.S. TV homes, the rate of broadband growth is accelerating, which explains why some top media shops are eyeing broadband video as a viable new TV daypart.

"The year also saw record growth for broadband as the twenty largest cable and DSL providers in the US - representing about 98% of the market - added a combined 7.4 million high-speed Internet subscribers in 2003," notes the Leichtman report, which compiled the estimates from U.S. cable modem and DSL providers.

As telling as those stats might seem, the Leichtman goes on to cite its own survey of 1,600 U.S. households, which found that nearly a third of current narrowband subscribers are "interested" in getting broadband.

"Clearly the market for broadband has become more competitive in the past year, and competition will only intensify as the number of broadband subscribers in the U.S .doubles over the next four years," predicts Leichtman chief Bruce Leichtman.