In Young & Rubicam's 1997 Media Capitals study, the San Francisco-based company points out that by the year 2001, Americans' daily reliance on the Internet as a media source will double.
If you're a communications specialist handling media relations, don't let this finding creep up on you. Start now to devise strategies and services that will position you as a communications leader in the digital age and use the online world to reinforce your companies' messages and advances.
The study estimated that during 1996, the average American adult spent 7 hours and 54 minutes in daily media time. Nine minutes of that was online.
But Y&R points to two major indicators that signal that the shift to the online world as a media source is underway: TV consumption is expected to drop from 3 hours and 76 minutes to 3 hours and 68 minutes and online usage is expected to jump from a projected 15 minutes to 31 minutes. (Y&R, 415/764-1304.)