Interesting observations jws. A good note on that peak number - as we all know the peak is not very meaningful in anyway since it is artifically inflated. This can be true in cases where they have a push to reactivate inactives, for example. Joe Pub hasn't turned in FS time in 2 months, and they get him to report this month (I.E. Aug) and last month's (July) figures - we guess what? He counts as 2 in Aug! That's one way peaks can be inflated.
On that average figure you are talking about, that included all the special, regular and aux pioneers too, so to me that's pretty low average. The normal publisher average # they usually report is for publishers only, with the pioneer figures removed. Last I heard that average was in the 8-9 hour range. It was 10-12 a few years ago (mid 90's).