This has been an extraordinary summer for advertiser-supported television, from AMC's "Breaking Bad" to FX's "Rescue Me" to BBC America's "Doctor Who" and beyond. But as I think about the programs I have enjoyed the most since the last week of May, when the traditional television season ended and the so-called summer season began, it occurs to me that the show I have watched and thought about the most is the peerless comedy classic "All in the Family."

Addressable and Advanced Advertising is essentially a "push" advertising model that feeds out messages to targeted groups. But with the interactive capabilities that the Set-Top box infrastructure offers, it is possible to offer messaging that viewers can respond to in real time. In continuing with our discussion about targeted and addressable advertising, we now examine the concept of Interactive Advertising and its relationship to addressability.

In less than a month, I will turn 55. In the real world. this is not a notable birthday -- no one's throwing me a party. But in the world of marketing, television programming, and advertising, it's a number of great significance. Having already moved out of the 18-49 demographic, I am about to move out of the key 25-54 group and become part of the dreaded and nebulous 55+ category. What will happen between now and next month that will change how advertisers and networks see me?

Cathy Hetzel, corporate president of Rentrak, is a pioneer in interactive television and set-top-box data. Her first role at Rentrak was to ascertain whether Rentrak's home video business could be adapted to television. After helping to launch their Video On Demand measurement service by examining log data from the servers, she saw the possibility of set-top-box data as a new way to measure television. In this interview, Cathy talks about Rentrak, set-top-box data providers and the competitive landscape. She also offers some insights into the media landscape over the next few years.

What a show, with dueling arguments and superstar spokesmen. But we can now announce a deal. It's done. Our long national nightmare is over. With rancorous negotiations behind us, and billions of dollars rescued, the nation is secure. I speak of course of the NFL Players Association agreement with management. Now we can get on with our lives, our liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, at least every Sunday.

Here you are, reading the TV Board on MediaPost. So it's probably safe to assume that you, like me, love -- or at least give a hoot about -- television. Those of us who have created new companies in the space -- TRA, Invidi, Visible World, Simulmedia, Black Arrow, Media Bank, Canoe -- have joined the big players (networks, stations, media agencies, advertisers) in pursuing a big opportunity in TV and TV advertising. But have you ever asked yourself why?

In roughly two months, the long-running ABC soap opera "All My Children" will end its run on the network -- and three days after that, thanks to an unprecedented licensing agreement between ABC and the production company Prospect Park, it will enter the history books as the first broadcast television series to move intact from television to the Internet. If "AMC" succeeds there, either as a free advertiser-supported Web series, or on a pay-per-month or pay-per-view and/or download platform, everything we know about the production, distribution and potential longevity of broadcast and cable programming will likely change forever.

When I was on the media agency side of the business, and sat through numerous upfront presentations, there would generally be at least one or two cable networks trying to sell me on some sort of value index that went above and beyond just the Nielsen ratings. While some of these indexes were interesting, all were fundamentally flawed. A few years ago my buyers asked me to develop a better set of value factors that could be used for all clients -- value factors that I could not find fault with (and anyone who knows me understands how difficult that …

For a long time I've doubted that the Internet would replace traditional over-the-air and wired television as the primary source for video content. I just didn't believe that Hulu, Netflix, YouTube or any other online service could take the place of broadcast and cable networks. My conclusions were partly based on hard evidence -- Nielsen research shows that only about 1% or 2% of all "three-screen" video is consumed over the Internet -- but, like many commentators, I mostly extrapolated from my personal anecdotal experiences.

At the end of the movie "The American President," Michael Douglas says of his opponent, "His problem isn't that he doesn't get it, his problem is that he can't sell it." We seem to have both problems today. There are 435 voting members of the House of Representatives, 100 Senators, and 1 president. They are our duly elected representatives and they are currently engaged in a great debate that, because of our 24/7 TV culture, has devolved into bad theater -- or, depending on your preferences, has become the best reality show on television.