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HERE'S A STATISTIC THAT PROBABLY SHOULDN'T SURPRISE ANYONE.

Of the list companies polled by Direct in its 2006 list use survey (see supplement following page 8), only 29% reported an increase in management commissions. For 22%, that revenue went down.

Now look at brokerage commissions. Almost half of the same list companies saw a boost vs. 13% that suffered a decline.

Possible conclusion: List brokerage is in much healthier shape than management.

But how can that be when almost every list rental involves two players (beyond owner and mailer): the manager and broker?

There are several plausible explanations. One is that brokers are also earning commissions on compiled lists, co-ops and other products not necessarily handled by managers.

Then, too, brokers have extended their service offerings beyond list rental to include general media planning and campaign management.

(Oh, one more finding is that brokerage and management commissions have not grown at the same pace as total list rental revenue. Can it be that list firms are being hondled on commissions?)

But let's stop worrying this to death. Overall, our survey shows that list companies and their clients are holding their own, even if the rental business isn't expanding as dramatically as it was in the old days.

E-mail list use is increasing faster than its paper mail counterpart, and insert media seems to be flat.

And though it flies in the face of anecdotal evidence, continuations are showing more growth than tests right now.

Forgive us some sentimentality. If one clear thought emerges from these sometimes contradictory findings, it's that the broker is the key player in our business.

Think of it. Who knows more about the dynamics of direct marketing (whether by direct mail or e-mail)? Who's better at interpreting the numbers and making intelligent decisions based on them?

The sad thing is that brokers never have gotten the media attention that managers, agency creatives and DMers have received.

But we want to change that.

Direct has started a feature called Meet the Broker. It appears every Friday in Direct Listline, our daily e-mail newsletter on lists.

Each week, we highlight a broker now working in the trenches. We ask about their specialty, recent campaign successes and how they got into the list business.

Want to submit brokers' names for consideration? Contact our list editor Jim Emerson at jim.emerson@penton.com. Please include photos.

Want to subscribe to Direct Listline? Go to our Web site (www.directmag.com/newsletters/).