02/10/97 SEINFELD, SURFING, AND SPINMEISTERS

SEINFELD, SURFING, AND SPINMEISTERS

WHO'S WINNING THE BATTLE for America's eyeballs? Television or cyberspace? Market research by San Francisco-based Odyssey shows that 14% of U.S. households were online as of July, up from 6% two years earlier. Online buffs say that must be cutting into TV-watching time, while networks say that any defections are minor.
Now, NBC Television and America Online are bickering over a weekly blip in TV watching that might be called the ''Seinfeld effect.'' Online usage peaks around 9 p.m. on weekdays--except on Thursdays, when it flattens out or drops. That's when the NBC hit comedy comes on in most places.
The two companies interpret the finding on Seinfeld differently. To Horst Stipp, NBC's research director, it shows that even computer nerds need a break from Web surfing and E-mailing. In contrast, AOL sees the dip during Seinfeld and a handful of other upscale shows such as E.R. as evidence that the AOL audience is younger, more affluent, and more urban than the average TV viewer.
What's more, AOL and Nielsen Media Research say that AOL subscribers watch about 15% less television per week than the national average. AOL is trying to use these conclusions to lure more advertisers, arguing that TV ads are underdelivering to the most desirable clientele.
By Peter Coy
EDITED BY LARRY LIGHT