Blockbuster Releases Results of Father's Day Survey

To celebrate Father's Day this Sunday, Blockbuster recently presented a survey on the best and the worst movie dads—and how they stack up against those off-screen.

Topping movie lovers' list of on-screen fathers they'd most like as their own is the devoted and determined single dad Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness played by Will Smith. Fans also chose Will Smith as the celebrity dad they'd most like to have as their own. The on-screen and off-screen Smith was most popular with young females ages 18-34, although males also named him a top pick.

Real-life dads get less respect than their on-film counterparts, with survey respondents comparing their own fathers to some of the most notoriously humorous and sometimes bumbling dads in movie history. Topping the list is Steve Martin's George Banks in Father of the Bride. Movie lovers also named Jack Byrnes, the overprotective ex-CIA dad in Meet the Parents and Chevy Chase's clueless Clark Griswold from National Lampoon's Vacation as characters reminiscent of their own dads.

When asked what movie dad they'd least like to have as their own, more than a third chose the terrifying Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in The Shining followed by Jim Carrey's Fletcher Reede in Liar, Liar and dad from the Dark Side Darth Vader from the Star Wars series. Fortunately, none of these characters showed up on the "movie dads most like my own" list!

For more information on the survey, check out the Blockbuster press release.

Apartments.com: Majority of Renters Recycle

Do you live in a green apartment community? A recent Apartments.com survey indicates more than sixty-three percent of survey respondents who live in an apartment community recycle regularly. In comparison, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that 32 percent of the entire U.S. population participates in recycling programs.

Of the renters who do recycle, fifty percent live in an apartment community that offers a recycling program for residents. Property managers and apartment owners support environmental issues in numerous ways as survey respondents indicate the following eco-friendly products and services are provided by management companies: recycling bins and receptacles (34 percent), energy efficient lighting (10 pecent), water saving showers and fixtures (10 percent ) and insulation in windows and doors (8 percent).

Environmentally friendly communities are in high demand as twenty-six percent of renters state they would pay more in rent to live in a building that makes efforts to conserve and recycle. When asked to choose between identical apartments with the same monthly rent, one being eco-friendly and the other not, more than sixty-four percent of renters would choose the "green" apartment.

A significant number of survey respondents indicate that they personally make conservation efforts regardless of the presence of a formal recycling program within their rental community. Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents recycle plastic, fifty-seven percent indicate that they use energy efficient light bulbs, fifty-six percent recycle paper, aluminum and glass and forty-six percent use a timer to set their heating/air conditioning to run only while someone is home.

For more information on the survey, check out the Apartments.com press release.

NSTAR Enhances Customer Service Experience With AT&T VoiceTone

AT&T Inc. recently announced the successful implementation of a voice solution for NSTAR, a Massachusetts-based electricity and natural gas utility, to manage incoming customer service calls. Under a $3 million four-year contract, AT&T will provide NSTAR with AT&T VoiceTone®, a natural-language solution that responds to customers' precise needs.

AT&T says VoiceTone is designed to enhance the customer-calling experience by replacing time-consuming menus and touch-tone prompts with conversational interactions. Customers ask questions, make requests and receive accurate, natural-voice responses. The system closely resembles a live agent with its ability to quickly understand callers' specific needs and to direct them to the correct customer service representative.

"Providing our customers with support that is easily accessible, accurate and efficient is extremely important to us," said Gene Zimon, NSTAR's Chief Information Officer. "AT&T's VoiceTone is an innovative solution that not only enables us to better serve and build stronger relationships with our customers but also creates cost-reducing efficiencies throughout our customer service department."

AT&T VoiceTone also creates efficiencies within NSTAR's customer service centers. The system increases the likelihood that callers are directed to the correct service department or self-service option on the first connect, reducing the amount of time spent with each customer without compromising service. In addition, AT&T VoiceTone increases NSTAR's call capacity and allows more customer needs to be answered during peak calling times without increasing the number of representatives.

Fore more information, check out the AT&T press release.

ZipRealty Survey: Buyers and Sellers See Improvement in Pricing Trends

According to results from the ZipRealty first quarter 2007 Housing Market Perception Survey, buyers and sellers perceive an improvement in home pricing trends and believe the housing market is beginning to stabilize, indicating sellers are more realistic with their pricing and expectations and that fewer buyers are "fence-sitting."

ZipRealty's recently-announced survey results show that a shrinking percentage difference between buyer and seller views of home price trends, a sign that both are beginning to see eye-to-eye. The percentage difference between buyers and sellers who believe prices will decline decreased from 26 percent in the fourth quarter 2006 to only 19 percent in the first quarter 2007, while the percentage difference between buyers and sellers who think prices will increase declined from 10 percent to six percent.

"As we enter the prime summer real estate season, we believe sellers are more realistic with their pricing and are more willing to negotiate and work with buyers," ZipRealty's President Patrick Lashinsky explains. "Our recent survey results support our belief that the current market continues to favor buyers, but that buyers are actively looking to submit an offer once they find the right home at the right price."

ZipRealty's most recent monthly Price Reduction Index, which tracks housing trends in 18 markets nationally, reveals a month-over-month increase in the percentage of actively listed homes with at least once reduction in listing price, a signal that sellers are lowering their expectations this spring. Additionally, the number of single family homes and condos listed for sale are up 32 percent in April 2007 compared to one year ago.

For more information, check out the ZipRealty press release.

XM Radio Exclusive Satellite Radio Network of BCS National Championship Game

XM Satellite Radio announced earlier this month that it has reached a multi-year agreement with FOX Sports to become the exclusive satellite radio network of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game and other BCS games, beginning January 2008.

"College sports is a very important element of our programming strategy, and these games are a must for college football fans," said Eric Logan, executive vice president of programming, XM Satellite Radio. "These games help reinforce XM Radio's position as the ultimate destination for people who love college sports. FOX Sports is a longtime partner of XM, and we're very excited to be working together to bring live coverage of these games to fans across the country."

"FOX Sports is pleased to have reached a multi-year BCS rights agreement with XM, the nation's leading satellite radio service," said FOX Sports COO Larry Jones. "The BCS is a true jewel in the nation's sports landscape, and everything we do in conjunction with it needs to be top-notch."

"The BCS is pleased to have XM as the exclusive satellite home of the Allstate BCS National Championship Game as well as the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the FedEx Orange Bowl. College football fans all over the country now will be able to listen to these BCS games virtually anywhere," said BCS Coordinator Mike Slive.

The games are the latest addition to XM's line-up of college sports programming. XM is the official satellite radio network of the college sports conferences ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10, and SEC. More than eight million subscribers across the U.S. listen to XM on radios for the car, home, and portable use. XM puts a special emphasis on serving "displaced" sports fans who cannot hear their favorite teams on local outlets.

For more information, check out the XM Satellite Radio press release.

AT&T Gears Up for iPhone Launch with New Branding Campaign

Earlier this month, AT&T announced a new phase of the company's branding strategy. AT&T kicked off this phase by replacing the Cingular brand with AT&T on all in-store signage, store kiosks, and point-of-sale materials in approximately 1,800 company-owned wireless retail stores. In addition, key stores in major markets also unveiled new exterior signage displaying the new brand.

The decision to move to this phase of the branding campaign is based on research that indicates that consumer awareness of AT&T is high and ahead of expectations.

The store makeovers are also critical to prepare for the late-June launch of the Apple iPhone, for which AT&T will be the exclusive wireless provider in the United States. Many company-owned stores have also installed kiosks promoting the complete array of AT&T services—wireless, high-speed Internet, TV and home phone service—in the company's traditional service areas.

These broader service offerings are part of the company's ongoing efforts to integrate its wireline and wireless businesses and further strengthen its position as a complete provider of communications and entertainment services.

"Consolidating BellSouth and Cingular under the AT&T brand was based on extensive market research and is proving to be the right decision," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T's chief operating officer. "Our branding campaign is performing at and above projected levels and customer response has been very positive. We are excited to move into the next phase of transforming AT&T into the only communications provider our customers will ever want."

As part of its branding initiative, AT&T is also now beginning to replace Cingular with the AT&T brand in voice greetings, on new customer handsets and handset screen displays and on envelopes and statements. In addition, exteriors of most company-owned retail locations are expected to be branded as AT&T by September, with branding of agent-owned retail stores expected to be completed by January 2008. Many of the company's high-profile sponsorships such as "American Idol" and NASCAR will be transitioned soon as well.

"The newest phase of our branding campaign communicates that AT&T is a leader in wireless as well as in other communications and entertainment services," said Wendy Clark, senior vice president ??? AT&T Advertising. "Our goal is to let the public know that AT&T offers perhaps the best choices, values and convenience in the marketplace across our extensive portfolio for the communications services they want and need."

In addition to AT&T's wireless/wireline integration initiatives, the BellSouth brand transition campaign has also been very successful. According to weekly research numbers, unaided advertising awareness of AT&T in the former BellSouth region has increased sevenfold.

For more information, check out the AT&T press release.