According to Publishers Information Bureau, for the first time in nine quarters both total magazine pages and rate-card-reported revenue posted gains. During the second quarter of 2010, magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue closed at $5.2 billion, generating a 5.7% increase against the same period in 2009. PIB recorded a gain in ad pages of 0.8% in the second quarter compared to April through June, of 2009. The fourth quarter of 2007 marked the last time that magazine advertising revenue or pages recorded growth.

According to national survey results jointly released by COLLOQUY and the Direct Marketing Association, U.S. companies that use social media primarily to deepen customer loyalty spend almost twice as much on this emerging channel as competitors who use it for brand awareness, customer acquisition and other core marketing purposes. Specifically, the survey results show the average social media spend for marketers whose primary objective is to obtain customer loyalty was $88,000 last year, compared to $53,000 for brand awareness and $30,000 for customer acquisition, the objectives that attracted the next highest spending levels.

A new study by ExactTarget and CoTweet finds that while consumers primarily turn to Facebook to connect with friends and for entertainment, discounts and 'social badging' are the primary reasons consumers 'like' brands on Facebook. However, the prospect of receiving discounts is the number one driver for consumers to "like" a brand on Facebook, according to a new study from ExactTarget and CoTweet. 40% are motivated to like a brand on Facebook by discounts and promotions. 39% are motivated by showing support for the brand.

According to the Pew Research Center, social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010. Between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking use among internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88%, while use among those ages 65 and older grew 100% from 13% to 26%. At the same time, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13%.

According to the Pew Social & Demographic Trends Center, reported here last week, consumers are increasingly less likely to consider TV sets as necessities. But reported today, Nielsen estimates an increase of one million TV homes in the U.S from last year, climbing to 115.9 million for the 2010-2011 broadcast season.

According to a revised radio industry forecast from BIA/Kelsey, reported in the third edition of BIA/Kelsey's quarterly "Investing In Radio Market Report," the radio industry will see its over-the-air revenues in 2010 climb 4.4% over last year to $13.93 billion, with another $459.3 million in revenues coming from digital and online sources. Stations in top 10 market cities will average a 6.26% increase from 2009, while San Francisco and Philadelphia can expect overall revenue growth of 8% due primarily to an increase in spending by national advertisers.

According to the comScore/ImpactRx Physician Behavioral Measurement solution, 81% of physicians online visited Health Care Professional (HCP) content sites in Q1 2010, leading as the most-visited health-related content category among physicians. HCP sites also captured 48% of physicians' overall time spent on health-related sites, the largest share of any category. John Mangano, comScore vice president of pharmaceutical marketing solutions, said "... physicians are increasingly turning to digital media as a source of health-related information to supplement their practice... understanding which health-related destinations are frequented by physicians, brand marketers and advertisers can effectively reach and engage this audience segment."

A new study by the DMRSGroup on compiled lists,. "Online Sources of B-to-B Data: A Comparative Analysis, 2010" reveals an evolution in how business data are collected and offered. While business data tend to be relatively accurate, the breadth of company contacts is spotty, says the report. Ruth P. Stevens, a customer acquisition and retention consultant, Columbia University, and co-author of the study, says "... the fundamental background for this study is the general lack of confidence business marketers have in publicly available prospecting files... but, the large vendors of compiled data... are eager as to show what they …

The Gallup annual Confidence in Institutions survey found the military faring best and Congress faring worst of 16 institutions tested. Americans' confidence in newspapers and television news is on par with Americans' lackluster confidence in banks and slightly better than their dismal rating of Health Management Organizations and big business. Americans continue to express near-record-low confidence in newspapers and television news, with no more than 25% of Americans saying they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in either. These views have hardly budged since falling more than 10 percentage points from 2003-2007.

When American adults were asked if they would most want to be richer, thinner, smarter, or younger, 43% professed that they would want to be richer, the largest group "wish." The new Harris Poll of U.S. adults, By Samantha Braverman, Project Researcher, found that 21% of Americans would like to be thinner, 14% said smarter and 12% said younger. And different strokes becomes apparent as preferred traits are chosen depending on the segment.