• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 1, 2011

It's March, meaning there will be some madness in college hoops and at many a St. Patrick's Day celebration. Hidden secret: Savannah, Georgia, offers one of the best places to spend St. Pats, with raucous partying, greased by a New Orleans-style open container law.

In any case, it's time for this month's Leaders and Bleeders.

Leaders:

1) Chrysler -- Epic two-minute Super Bowl spot continues to resonate as shorter versions air. YouTube views have passed 9 million. Creative was brilliant, from the photography to the narration, while the Eminem music is body-tingling. Best of all, the spot has given Detroiters a prideful motto forever: "This is the Motor City. And this is what we do."

2) DirecTV -- Cord-cutting might be happening, but the cutters could just be going to DirecTV. In the fourth quarter, it added 289,000 net new customers, more than double the same period a year ago. An emphasis on upgrading ad sales could bolster revenues, partly via a national addressable platform, developed in partnership with Starcom MediaVest. One possible headwind: an NFL lockout would cost it "Sunday Ticket" and maybe some subscribers.

3) Leslie Moonves -- When he took over as CEO of the new CBS Corp., Moonves pushed aggressively to turn retrans consent into a second revenue stream for his flagship network. Done. And the Big Four are now essentially cable networks, but with the added benefit of reaching every U.S. home. Also, a new deal with Netflix has CBS collecting a fortune for library content. Stock price has nearly doubled in the last year. Charlie Sheen will cost it a hit show, but CBS has plenty of them.

4) He Got Tased, Bro! -- Apparently, Michigan legislators have nothing better to do -- pensions must be fully funded -- so they are considering a bill that would allow residents to carry tasers. (43 states already do, who knew?) Reporter Aaron Baskerville at the CBS affiliate in Grand Rapids decided to give citizens a taste of what they could be in for -- submitting to a good tase on camera. He buckled immediately and started screaming. He was supposed to get five seconds of punishment, but cried uncle after only two. Wimpy, no?

5) Bruce Lefkowitz -- Continues as one of the most-respected sales executives in his role at Fox Cable, overseeing the process for the strong FX and the new Nat Geo Wild. With demise of Fox Reality, no longer has to pitch advertisers shows like "Battle of the Bods." Coolest accomplishment? Immortalized at the Palestra in Philly -- the basketball shrine, where he led Penn in scoring twice and won two Ivy titles -- with an iconic photo of him smiling with a net around his neck. Seen by thousands each game. Can the traffic be monetized?

Bleeders:

1) Angelinos -- Just about all Los Angeles Lakers games to be on pay-TV starting with the 2012-13 season. Broadcaster KCAL has been offering road games, but Time Warner Cable is starting a regional sports network eliminating that. About 10% of the L.A. market will be affected, according to the L.A. Times. In truth, it's hard to believe that so many Lakers games have been on free TV this long. A potential plus: TWC is also launching a Spanish-language sports net with the team's games - though also on cable.

2) Charlie Sheen -- Incomprehensible. Sad.

3) JCPenney -- Google punishes it for gaming its search engine, even though Penney says it had nothing to do with the legerdemain. Now, its Oscar ads deemed largely fruitless, according to one research firm. Seven spots were among the 10 least effective in the show, said Ace Metrix. The New York Times' Stuart Elliott did credit the retailer with at least running new creative, unlike many others.

4) Golf -- It looks to be a long time before -- if -- Tiger Woods contends for a major championship again, which means ratings could be way down for the Masters on CBS and U.S. Open on NBC. If Phil Mickelson doesn't save the day, are people enamored with Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood, the world's top two? Nonetheless, CBS just made a commitment to the sport for a long time, re-upping to carry the PGA Championship through 2019.

5) NBC -- It's been well-chronicled how some of NBC's decisions have made the New York Mets look smart. No need to rehash Leno, etc. But one of its bigger mistakes in its "Reinventing TV" initiatives was ceding exclusivity on the first day of the annual Upfront Week. NBC traditionally got the presentations going and had Monday all to itself. Then, it jettisoned an upfront show for several years, figuring the concept was moribund. Fox jumped in to grab Monday. And now a returned NBC has to share it. Plus, Fox gets the afternoon slot leading into the night's partying. NBC should save on shrimp, though.