Holiday sales are not meeting expectations. For the December quarter, it is likely the industry will be down double digits on a percentage basis.

The stock ran up since the last earnings call, and the holiday sales were in line with expectations, not great.

The downward trend is due to consumers' increased expectations during the holiday season, a much larger influx of infrequent visitors that may not know how to navigate a site and shipping costs, and the unavailability of prominent items like the Xbox 360 due to low inventory.

Advertisers' response to PLAY exceeded our expectations, especially given the shortened sales cycle we had around the 2005 holiday period. We see this response as validation that there is a demand to be met for well-focused content that is tailored to readers' specialty interests--particularly sports-related news and information.

April comps will reap the benefits of Easter holiday sales. But as usually is the case with March and April, it's best to view the two months on a combined basis. Retailers find themselves against a stiff 7.1 percent gain a year ago,

The 2002 holiday season will likely be a moderate one, not blowing away modest expectations, but not disappointing them either.