For those in groups with members that still don't believe that there are
few jobs in new media or that nearly all are for programmers, the survey
below tells a different story.  be sure to check out the fact that in New
York city tthere are now more full time jobs in new media than there are
in advertising or magazines.

kelly




      October 23, 1997

'Silicon Alley' Has Explosive Growth, Survey Finds

      By DAVID W. CHEN

     N EW YORK -- With breathtaking speed, Manhattan's new-media
     industry has become one of the biggest players in the city's media
     business, doubling in jobs and companies in just the last 18 months
     to become a $2.8 billion-a-year juggernaut, according to a study to
     be released Thursday.

     The survey's findings are all the more stunning considering that
     the new-media business, consisting mostly of Internet and other
     high-tech companies, barely existed just a few years ago and even
     now is sometimes dismissed as a hobby run by the young and the
     indigent.

     But the survey portrays a business that is maturing, outperforming
     other businesses and becoming increasingly vital to the
     metropolitan area's economy.

     "This makes it clear to anyone who didn't understand it yet that
     Silicon Alley is a very real phenomenon," said Charles Millard,
     president of the New York City Economic Development Corp., using
     the nickname given to Manhattan's new-media community.

     The study was conducted by the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand
     and the New York New Media Association, and sponsored by the Empire
     State Development Corp., the New York City Economic Development
     Corp. and Chase Manhattan Bank.

     The study, the second such survey conducted by Coopers & Lybrand,
     measures such economic indicators as demographics, compensation
     patterns, freelance employment and sources of financing.

     The survey gauged the new-media business in Manhattan, in New York
     City and in the metropolitan area. The number of new-media
     companies in Manhattan almost doubled, to 2,128, compared with the
     1,175 found in the first survey in early 1996. And annual revenues
     climbed 56 percent to $2.8 billion.

     In Manhattan, the number of jobs -- full-time, part-time and
     freelancers -- jumped 105 percent to 55,973. This means that the
     new-media business (with 27,488 full-time jobs at the end of 1996
     and 32,013 in mid-1997) is among the biggest in the media business,
     right up there with advertising (27,528 full-time jobs at the end
     of 1996) and periodicals (26,543 at the end of 1996).

     In the metropolitan region, the number of new-media jobs jumped 48
     percent to 105,771, including an increase of 162 percent in
     part-timers. The number of companies climbed 16 percent to 4,991,
     and revenues were up 50 percent to $5.7 billion.

     To be sure, despite its rapid growth, the new-media industry is
     still dwarfed by other industries in New York City. The securities
     industry, for example, employs 155,000 people and the private
     health-care industry has 315,000, said Jim Brown, an analyst at the
     New York state Department of Labor.

     In addition, the new-media industry is different from other
     traditional businesses in that it is volatile and dominated by
     young entrepreneurs. Nearly a third of the companies have been
     established in the last 18 months; more than a sixth, meanwhile,
     have folded in the same period. Nearly three-quarters of the
     employees are under 40 years old. And a whopping 83 percent of the
     metropolitan area's new-media businesses generate less than $1
     million in annual revenues.

     At the same time, though, there are signs of maturation, said Brian
     Horey, a venture capitalist and a founding member of the New York
     New Media Association. The survey found that the biggest category
     of job creation was sales and marketing, suggesting that companies
     have gone beyond the product development stage and into the
     business world.

     "Five years ago, this industry was immature," said Andy Zimmerman,
     a partner in charge of telecommunications and media consulting
     practice at Coopers & Lybrand. "Now, this industry is getting
     mature like Silicon Valley mature: more and more companies are
     employing people versus hiring freelancers, paying people more and
     obtaining traditional venture capital financing."

     The survey said that companies are most concerned about the high
     costs of doing business in New York and the lack of technical
     talent, something that puts places like Boston and Silicon Valley,
     with MIT and Stanford acting as laboratories, at an advantage.

     But the survey concludes by saying that the New York area's
     abundance of artists, designers and writers places it in a good
     position to capitalize on the growing importance of developing
     Internet "content" -- the stuff that appears on a Web site. And
     there are no signs that the the growth in jobs will let up.

     "We expected rapid growth, but I have to admit that these numbers
     exceed even our expectations," said Gov. George Pataki, whose
     administration has cut taxes and supported economic development
     projects designed to encourage new-media businesses. "Ain't it
     great?"

                 Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company