Twenty-eight years ago, you embraced a much-maligned species demonized in the movie "Jaws" and created "Shark Week" to educate us about these magnificent creatures. Mixing highlights of the latest research, dramatic footage and narrative, you increased our respect for sharks and awareness of conservation issues, and elevated sharks into animal documentary rock stars. Much of what we know about sharks can largely be attributed to "Shark Week," now one of the longest-running events in cable television history.

I haven't been to Whatever USA, I didn't see "Jurassic World" on it's opening weekend, and, unfortunately, I won't be attending any of this Summer's Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well concerts. I did, however, recently have the pleasure of immersing myself in the Women's World Cup experience in Vancouver, B.C. And I have to commend Vancouver, FIFA, and all of the corporate sponsors for making it very memorable ... for me, but more importantly, for my daughter and son.

It seems that each month there are new product updates and announcements from all the big players, as well as established companies in the space evolving beyond their original businesses. A forecast predicts that by the end of 2017, there will be around 147 million connected TV sets in the U.S. That's a lot of cord cutting!

MCNs have emerged as an incredibly important conduit for entertainment brands to reach audiences they simply cannot find anywhere else. Viewers of MCNs are comprised almost entirely of pre-teens and young adults, who were the first to move en masse away from traditional television consumption.

A colleague of mine and I were recently brainstorming a new-business proposal when she brought up a PR tool I hadn't used since my days at Burson-Marsteller in the 1980s: the matte story. Little did I know, use of the matte story is as popular as it ever was - maybe even more, given today's focus on branded content.