According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, reported by David Hallerman for eMarketer, interstitial ads gained only a 5.0% share of US online ad spending in 2002 and pop-ad ads, a type of interstitial, made up just 3.5% of all US online ads in Q4 2002, based on impressions. But, relative to their dollar impact on Internet ad spending and their impression count, pop-ups get a disproportionate amount of attention from both the media and consumers. A recent PlanetFeedback survey that found pop-ups lead all ad forms in levels of annoyance and distrust-even more so than spam.

According to The Media Audit, from 2000 to 2002 Satellite TV increased its subscriber base in 85 metropolitan markets by 27 percent. In spite of its significant growth it fell further behind in its battle for market share with Cable TV. "While Satellite TV was growing by 27 percent, Cable TV was growing by 13 percent, but Satellite was building on a subscriber base of 11,632,000 while Cable was building on a subscriber base of 84,762,000," says Bob Jordan, co-chairman of International Demographics, Inc.

Results from a recently completed Leichtman Research Group survey exemplify that while HDTV has not yet generated mass-market consumer interest, the product has solid niche appeal - particularly among high-end consumers. Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, writes that while 4% of all households in cable areas say that they have a TV set that is capable of receiving HD programming.

New research from Ipsos-Insight indicates that communicating broadband's benefits may be even more important (than price reduction) to reigniting the technology's growth. Many American dial-up users are simply not convinced they need broadband, even if the price fell to half of what it has been so far this year. The survey of dial-up users shows that almost two-thirds of Americans are online, and most of them are still connected via dial-up. Four-in-ten dial-up users said cost was a reason they hadn't yet switched to high-speed Internet access. Another one-third are not convinced they need broadband-at all.

Women, Seniors, Students and Affluent Americans Comprise Some of the Fastest Growing Demographic Groups Adopting Broadband. Nielsen//NetRatings reports that there are 39 million, or 13 percent of Americans, connecting via broadband in the U.S., the highest number to date. Broadband users at-home grew 49 percent year-over-year, while narrowband users declined 12 percent during May 2003

According to a new survey from the American Management Association, Clearswift, and The ePolicy Institute, 22% of companies have terminated an employee for e-mail infractions and e-mail users spend about 25% of the workday on e-mail. Over 1,100 US employers participated in the 2003 E-Mail Survey, a follow-up to an e-mail survey conducted by the American Management Association and ePolicy Institute in 2001.

According to the national study "Customer Service Impact on Consumer Choice, Loyalty, Brand Reputation and Sustainable Growth" by The Santiago Solutions Group and Hispanic Teleservices Corporation, Hispanic loyalty is fragile as this segment places enormous weight on the consistent delivery of high quality customer support in Spanish.

A newly released survey, which the World Association of Newspapers has published annually since 1987, includes information on 70 countries, and was presented at the 56th World Newspaper Congress and 10th World Editors Forum in Dublin, Ireland. The study concludes that the downturn in the global economy after the boom years had a major but expected impact on the world newspaper industry, with both advertising revenues and circulation falling in many markets.

Dr. Joe Pilotta, co-author of the Simultaneous Media Usage Study (SIMM) for BIGresearch, says that "Simultaneous media usage presents a challenge for business-to-business marketers who wish to target business owners or those in professional or managerial positions with influence over the purchase of goods and services." "Rather," he said, "business owners' shopping and media consumption habits are driven by word-of-mouth, perceived practicality of a product and potential results."

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group reveals that adoption of high-definition television (HDTV) sets in the US has risen to 4% and further growth will be driven by higher-income consumers spurred on by falling prices of the sets. The research found that current HDTV owners have an average household income 73% above average, and those most likely to purchase an HDTV set in the next year have an average income 54% above average. LRG forecasts that the total number of HDTV-capable households in the US will grow to 33 million by the end of 2007.