An initially enticing promo last night from Fox went like this: "Join Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook as they host 'Teen Choice 2006' with all your favorite stars. And with a first time anywhere, live performance by... Kevin Federline!" Can't wait. Talk about your build-up/let-downs. Guess Federline's wife wasn't available.

News flash: Some--but not all--syndicated TV magazine shows are looking for more bad behavior from top-notch celebrities.

In a few weeks, choice words from the TV news and sports world will come from a less-buoyant Katie Couric on CBS and a selectively snarky Tony Kornheiser on ESPN. Couric and Kornheiser are both deeply involved in changing the direction of two notable TV shows getting face-lifts--the CBS's "The CBS Evening News" and ESPN's newly placed "Monday Night Football," respectively.

What's with the rough turbulence of the satellite TV business?

Like any troubled entity, the cable upfront market needs a good therapist. Peter Chernin, president/COO of News Corp., said the cable upfront has been "schizophrenic" this year--which means it's a market with at least two extreme personalities.

TV marketing is easy: big volume speaks volumes. You can always get big attention with your TV program or commercial by raising the volume for your viewers.

In an increasing age of multiplying media, brevity in entertainment marketing is the key for a quick rise to the top of the charts. Now, with global warming slowing everyone down, we all need simple, clear thinking. Everyone is getting into the act....

The Federal Communications Commission won't deny the viewing public its TV necessities of life. No, this isn't TV news from Iraq or the Emergency Broadcast System; it's NFL football.

Will the plethora of new digital platforms make TV pressure groups obsolete? Maybe not. But, in the wake of more entertainment choices, advertisers certainly are not scared to publicly talk back to those who seemingly position themselves as the arbiters of TV morality.

Many critics complain that too many first-year, quickly cancelled serial TV shows leave viewers with a bad taste in their mouths--not knowing what happens to characters and plotlines that briefly touched their TV fantasy lives. The remedy for this is easy: even more abrupt series endings. Some TV shows---even good ones--go on too long, anyway.