Going back to Bill Gates well-publicized speech (which, as you know, contained some bold predictions on the death of traditional media), STLtoday.com recently carried a story on Denny Payne President and Chief Executive Officer of SBC Directory Operations, and Chairman of the Yellow Pages Association a man who strongly believes the Yellow Pages will continue to flourish in the forthcoming digital age.

In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Payne who also run’s AT&T’s $3.7 billion Yellow Pages divisiontalked about the print directory’s simplicity and its place in our lives. He also revealed some hard facts: research reports showing that 61% of people still turn first to their print phone book when looking for a local company.

According to Payne, AT&T’s long-term plan is to leverage its Internet, wireless and video services to give users convenient access to Yellow Pages content. It’s a solid strategy, analysts say, considering that AT&T already owns the biggest wireless phone network in the U.S., and possesses a formidable broadband Internet presence.

Yet aside from their growing range of products and services, AT&T’s key strength still lies in its 5,000-strong sales force a group extremely adept at persuading people to advertise in its directories. It not only generates revenue, but also establishes relationships. “It’s the sales organizations that really have to evolve to be able to carry all these multiple platforms,” said Kelsey Group analyst Neal Polachek.

Print isn’t going away anytime soon, Payne stressed in the article. Despite the looming threat of a digital revolution, picking up a phone directory to find a number remains to be an easy, comfortable, and convenient solution for most people. Traditional media, after all, will always will have the upper hand over anything that needs an electric cord for it to be useful. “Business is good, and we expect it to be good,” Payne said. “It’s still the easiest method of search out there.”