Mr. Guericke would not disclose the number of subscribers on the site, but he said the average subscriber paid roughly $300 annually.

The average subscriber was spending more time on line, at 6.5 hours a month, up 30 percent from the year earlier, generating more revenue.

The difference is a high rate of turnover, raising questions about America Online's assertion that its average subscriber stays with the service for 42 months.

The average subscriber to the magazine had a net worth of $1.6 million and probably wouldn't miss $6.

The study found that the average subscriber's bill rose from $21.59 in December 1986 to $23.04 in June 1987.

Even so, the average subscriber may cost more to acquire than he or she ever pays.

That is a monthly increase in the average subscriber's cable bill of $2 to $4.

Its People magazine franchise is so valuable in part because the average subscriber pays $97.65 for a year.

By contrast, the average subscriber of another weekly magazine, Newsweek, pays $30.79.

The average subscriber now pays $19.42 a month, meaning that the company will forgo at least $1.4 billion a year in annual revenue.