PR Newswire Broadcast Minute for Thursday, May 12, 2005

PR Newswire Broadcast Minute for Thursday, May 12, 2005

Latest Housing Consumer Trends Focus on Upscale Amenities

Given the choice between more space or higher quality features, new home buyers are overwhelmingly opting for the latter, according to the latest survey data from the National Association of Home Builders. When asked to choose between a bigger house with fewer amenities or a smaller house with high quality products and amenities, 63 percent of the home owners surveyed by N-A-H-B opted for the latter. To pay for those quality features, 57 percent said they preferred for them to be included in the base price of the home, while 43 percent wanted them to be offered as options at extra cost.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=2945517

Cost of Fuel Weighs Heavily on Road Travelers This Summer

As Americans hit the roadways this summer and fuel prices rise, the cost of fuel is one of the least favorite aspects of long car trips for many adults, according to a recent survey released by discount travel site Hotwire.com. Travelers may be thinking more about their wallets than the long drive ahead, as the majority of respondents said the high cost of fuel is one of their least favorite aspects of long car trips. Other top things Americans said are their least favorite aspects of long car trips include:

-- Bad radio stations/No reception (40 percent)
-- Boredom (36 percent)
-- Uncomfortable seats (35 percent)
-- Kids complaining or acting up (23 percent)
-- Lack of personal space (21 percent)
-- Back seat drivers (21 percent)

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=2944907

Online Newspaper Readership Continues to Rise: Nielsen//NetRatings Data Shows Nearly One in Three Web Users Visit Newspaper Web Sites; Up 3.1% in March

Nearly one in three Internet users read an online newspaper in March 2005, representing a total audience of nearly 44 million people, according to a new report by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America. The data, which takes into account both home and work Internet usage, shows a 3 point 1 percent increase in unique audience in March to Newspaper Web sites, compared with the same period a year ago. March signaled the high water mark in online newspaper readership over the past 15 months, demonstrating that online newspapers are drawing new users even as NetRatings' data shows that unique visitors to other news and information sites dropped by four percent, according to N-A-A.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=2945323

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith(TM) Soundtrack Makes History as the Third Star Wars Soundtrack to Debut in the Top 10 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart

Sony Classical's original soundtrack recording of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, the last episode of the massively popular Star Wars saga, hit the stores on May 3rd, and it immediately began making sales history. The C-D features a new score by five- time Oscar winner John Williams, who is also the composer and conductor of the score for each film in the six-chapter Star Wars saga. It is also packaged with an exclusive collector's D-V-D -- Star Wars: A Musical Journey -- an unprecedented bonus at no additional cost. Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, becomes the third Star Wars soundtrack to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart -- a new record. Previously, two Star Wars soundtracks held that distinction in a three-way tie with the two Spider Man soundtracks and two American Idol soundtrack collections.

Full story at: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=2945487

The PR Newswire Broadcast Minute is available by email at no charge to members of the media who sign up for PR Newswire for Journalists, ( http://www.prnewswire.com/media ). For more information, contact Rob Fisher at 408-365-8793 or email rob.fisher@prnewswire.com.

PRNewswire -- May 12

Source: PR Newswire

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