According to the latest data from Mediamark Research, 8.6% of U.S. adults reported having a DVR in their household. That percentage rose to 11.2% of adult households in the Spring 2006 release. (March 2005 to early May 2006.) The report summarizes that U.S. adults whose households have a digital video recorder are more upscale than those that do not and are more likely to be heavy readers of magazines and newspapers. They are also heavy users of the Internet.

In a recently released analysis of consumer activity at general news sites, comScore Media Metrix reported that more than half (54 percent) of all U.S. Internet users visited sites in the General News category in June 2006. In June, Yahoo! News reached 31.2 million unique visitors (one-third of all category visitors), followed by MSNBC, which captured 23.4 million (one-quarter) of those who visited General News sites in June 2006.

A recent study and Whitepaper by the Winterberry Group finds that the traditional marketing model is changing fast. Technological advances have ushered in a proliferation of channels that has diminished the impact of tried-and-true platforms such as television and print. At the center of this industrial transformation, says the Whitepaper, the role of the agency has been challenged. Once considered core to the marketing effort (and a trusted counselor to executive decision makers), the agency has seen its portfolio of responsibilities fundamentally altered

A recent survey by ShopSmart magazine, reported on Business Wire, finds that 76% of American women enjoy shopping, but one-third say the most stressful part is waiting in check out lines, followed closely by 29% stressed by interacting with salespeople. The average woman, says the report, spends 385 hours annually shopping.

comScore Media Metrix introduced "Competitive Search Marketing Reports" by examining the effectiveness of search campaigns conducted by the most-visited online travel agencies. The analysis showed that more than 50 percent of the total click-throughs to these sites were generated by sponsored ads, compared to just 11 percent across all Web search activity.

The Global Market Research Report, conducted every year by ESOMAR, available in September 2006, reveals that the Market Research industry remains healthy with longer term compound annual growth rates of 4-6%. Top line results indicate that global market research turnover tops $23 billion in 2005 with a growth rate of 4.3%. Europe maintains its leading role with 45% of the global market, and the use of online studies grows by 80%.

According to a telephone study of 114,035 adults across 84 cities in 2005 and early 2006 recently released by The Media Audit, National Public Radio is the 4th most listened to radio format. Bob Jordan, president of The Media Audit, commented "Listening to public radio has been growing steadily over the past 20 years.... Awareness of public radio's growth as a format (though) has not been that visible since data for public stations are not reported in the primary audience ratings service

According to the results of the annual Harris Poll measuring public perceptions of 23 professions and occupations, firefighters, doctors, and nurses are seen as prestigious occupations by U.S. adults, while business executives, stockbrokers and real estate agents are at the opposite end of the spectrum. And at least ¼ of adults think that union leaders, real estate brokers, and actors have "hardly any prestige at all."

If you're on the fringes of promoting VoIP, here's an interesting insight into the early adopters from a recent study by IDC. The number of U.S. households with income-generating or corporate home offices, says the study, are more than twice as likely to implement VoIP in the next 12 months compared with households in general.

A drill-down on sites for kids, games and toys to show top sites, viewer demographics, advertisers, ad types, sizes and delivery