For the first three weeks of the season, the level of men 18-34 using television is down 8% in prime time. Viewing levels in the demo are down in other dayparts as well and across the broadcast networks. That's with one exception: baseball- heavy Fox, which is up 3% in the demo in prime time but doesn't come close to accounting for the sharp overall decline.

Major magazines are generally introduced with a great deal of fanfare: news releases, lavish parties and bold statements about the paradigm shift the new publication represents. The much awaited MTV magazine will land a bit more quietly this week. There will be on-air and on-Web promotion, but for the most part, MTV is letting the first issue speak for itself.

The New York Times Co. (Quote, Chart)and The Tribune Co. (Quote), Chart)) both reported significantly higher online ad revenue than over the same period last year. Revenue increases for interactive were far larger than the gains in other operating units for both companies.

The experiences readers ascribe to magazines greatly influence their readership of magazines, as well as the impact of advertising appearing in magazines. That is the central, if not so surprising finding, generated by an important new study scheduled to be released next week at the American Magazine Conference. The study is important, because it defines precisely which experiences inhibit or motivate magazine readers, insights which ultimately could be used to develop research that could be used to plan magazine advertising buys.

Recognizing that advertisers are often hesitant to promote their products in edgier programs, Comedy Central asked Frank N. Magid Associates to determine whether ads that run in risqué programming are more effective in terms of brand recall (they are, say the results). Additionally, based on interviews with the 400 adults sampled, the research showed that brands advertised are not negatively affected by the content of the show. "We found that agencies needed more ammunition to show clients that there is a positive value to edgy programming," said Ray Giacopelli, Comedy Central's vp, research and ad sales.

Ziff Davis Media hopes to one-up the competition with a new online destination for video and PC gamers, 1UP.com. 1UP -- expected to become a major destination for enthusiasts -- will have a full- time staff of 25 under eic Sam Kennedy.

Advertising groups, under pressure from new state laws banning unsolicited bulk e-mail, today released a new standard for e-mail marketing that includes a requirement all e-mails include a working method for removing names from future mailings.