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News, features and resources for media and publishing professionals. Friday, April 23, 2004 Blogs | Subscribe | Interviews | Events | Films | Book Blog Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Broadband Adoption Rates Highest Among Affluent Surfers Nielsen//NetRatings, a provider Internet audience measurement and analysis, reported that affluent Americans are the fastest growing income group online. Surfers with total household incomes of $150K and higher grew 31 percent year-over-year at home to nearly 7.9 million individuals (see Table 1). Those earning between $75K-100K increased to 26.4 million in March 2004, as compared to 20.7 million a year ago. Internet users with upper incomes ranging from $100K-150K rose 24 percent since last March. Table 1: Year-Over-Year Internet Access Growth by Income Level (US, Home) Unique Audience (000) Income Level* Mar-03 Unique Audience (000) Mar-04 Unique Audience (000) Yearly Percent Growth (%) $150,000+ 6,010 7,873 31% $75,000 - 99,999 20,732 26,393 27% $100,000 - 149,999 14,356 17,786 24% $0 - 24,999 7,961 9,399 18% $25,000 - 49,999 33,074 37,826 14% $50,000 - 74,999 38,165 42,473 11% Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, March 2004 *Income level based on combined total household annual earnings Broadband Adoption Rates Highest Among Affluent Surfers Internet users earning upper-level incomes have a higher concentration of broadband adopters. Broadband surfers made up 69 percent of the total audience for those with incomes of $150K and above, as compared to 31 percent accessing via dial-up (see Table 2). Those earning between $100K-$150K showed a 61/39 split favoring high speed, while Internet users with incomes between $75K-$100K posted an even split among narrowband and broadband users. Middle and lower income surfers accessing the Internet via broadband posted much smaller concentrations. Almost two-thirds of individuals with household earnings between $25K-50K log online via narrowband, with just 36 percent accessing through broadband. Broadband composition is even less for lower income surfers earning between $0-25K, with just 25 percent accessing via cable, DSL or other high speed. “Cost plays a tremendous part in Internet access patterns,” said Kenneth Cassar, director of strategic analysis, Nielsen//NetRatings. “While broadband has become much less expensive over the past few years, it’s still a significant cost as compared to narrowband. Couple high-speed access with other utility expenses, and households with tighter budgets simply would not be able to afford the luxury of having broadband.” Table 2: Broadband vs. Narrowband by Household Income March 2004 (U.S., Home) Income Level Narrowband Broadband $150,000+ 31% 69% $100,000 - 149,999 39% 61% $75,000 - 99,999 50% 50% $50,000 - 74,999 54% 46% $25,000 - 49,999 64% 36% $0 - 24,999 75% 25% Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, March 2004 Related Links: · Nielsen//NetRatings Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter. www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved.