Around the Nation

Around the Nation

Internet companies push up ad prices

As many as a dozen ''dot-com'' advertisers are expected to rub shoulders with Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi-Cola, Federal Express, Visa and other longtime Super Bowl advertisers on the Jan. 30 telecast on ABC.

Dot-com advertisers have bought about 20 percent of the available commercials in the Super Bowl, industry insiders estimated.

Price evidently has been no object as industry insiders say the average charge for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial has soared 25 percent from the old high of $1.6 million on the last NFL championship game broadcast. Super Bowl ad prices are typically the highest on TV.

Marvin Goldsmith, ABC's head of sales and marketing, declined to comment on the prices but said sales have been helped by a strong economy and advertisers' renewed appreciation of broadcast TV's ability to reach a huge audience quickly.

The Super Bowl attracts the biggest TV ratings of the year at the same time the broadcast networks' audiences have steadily eroded. ''There are very few of these platform events that offer the opportunity to reach the masses in a concise period,'' said Bob Flood, who oversees national TV ad purchases made by DeWitt Media in New York.

N.Y. lawmakers not penalized for ethics

No one knows what it would take to prove the law was broken. No one knows because in its 10-year history the panel that investigates such cases - the Legislative Ethics Committee -hasn't penalized a sitting legislator. All eight members of the committee are lawmakers.

The committee has a policy of not commenting on investigations, or even acknowledging one is under way. One of its co-chairs, Democratic Assembly member Deborah Glick, wouldn't say if she believes the recent Philip Morris disclosures - for which the company agreed to pay a $75,000 fine - require further scrutiny. A spokesperson for the committee's other co-chairs, however, suggested a probe is unlikely.

"At this point, the senator hasn't seen anything in published reports that in his judgment would warrant action by the Ethics Committee," said Gerald McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Sen. John Marchi (R-New York).

NASA to crash tiny probes into Mars

If the drastic landing technique works Friday, the softball-size instrument packages will search for water and test lower-cost technology that could revolutionize solar system exploration.

The Deep Space 2 probes are flying toward the Red Planet along with the Mars Polar Lander.

After they reach Mars, Polar Lander will begin a controlled descent.

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