Major League Baseball's All-Star game seems to matter less each year for TV viewers -- even if a potential World Series team is pulling for a win. But for advertisers, it's still good business.

Some TV advertising moves can make you scratch your head. On Monday, during an airing of "Maisy," an animated show for preschoolers on qubo, the ION Media Networks kids' programming block, there was a commercial for Bosley -- the hair replacement company. Seems as though the media plan missed its intended target -- unless there are some 40- or 50-year-old men also watching the show at 9 a.m.

Bring back Fin-Syn, the Financial Interest and Syndication rules? Sort of. Independent TV producers -- the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors -- want back a share of the pie, the big piece that has mostly gone to the all-powerful TV networks since 1993.

TV shows make and lose money in varying degrees. But the specifics are not always apparent. Should they be? Yes. The big problem is sifting through the sometimes-dramatic maze of Hollywood accounting.

"NBC congratulates Conan": That's the official statement from the Peacock Network. Yeah. But I'm sure we won't see any NBC on-air promos to that effect. In an unusual Emmy marketing campaign, TBS -- who will get the services of Conan O'Brien come the fall -- manages to reap the rewards in getting O'Brien nominated for his efforts as the host of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

LeBron James' now highly touted big news announcement on ESPN on Thursday -- telling the world what team he'll be paying for -- offers up a different spin on the delicate world of advertising-supported journalism. But what remains the same is how the check bounces.

Trying to make money for your TV show in the 2010-2010 TV season? Go lighter on the product placement and branded entertainment. This activity has been around too long for TV producers to still be producing stuff "inorganically." They need to avoid the artificial flavoring.

Hulu's move to start a pay service for $9.99 a month isn't new in the world of television. It actually follows one of the now-oldest alternative platforms of TV, which really got going in the late '70s: pay cable TV networks.

Can one network show make fun of another series on the same network, or sister network? Bring it on.

Much has been written about the sorry state of CNN and its tumbling ratings, as well as the related news of Larry King's departure. Now it's time for executives to seriously consider their next level of marketing and promotion.