The future isn't plastic, it's TV set-top boxes. Advertisers can use the down-to-the-second detail offered from digital set-top boxes to demonstrate more precisely how viewers are watching TV. They should be a primary tool for targeting the right ad messages to the right households. To that end, Starcom and sibling MediaVest are working with TNS, cable operators and TiVo to unlock insights in STB data. WPP has invested in OpenTV, Invidi and TRA.

Ben Bradlee, former Washington Post executive editor, tries to calm worries about the expected departure of editor Leonard Downie Jr. and upcoming buyouts. Bradlee, of Watergate fame, admits this is big, "but I don't see a wrenching change in direction." He says the bigger change was the appointment of publisher Katharine Weymouth, granddaughter of his former boss publisher Katharine Graham. Bradlee contends having a Graham family member in charge is a plus, even with major editorial job cuts. Nonetheless, he is skeptical about the buyouts. "I'd like to see a study of how many people are rehired …

This month salaries were frozen at "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" at PBS and retirement fund contributions were suspended. "NewsHour" and other PBS mainstays are finding public television's model -- soliciting long-term commitments -- out of step with changing corporate needs. Corporate underwriting for core programs is down 40%. PBS is now testing short-term sponsorships for "Nova" and "Antiques Roadshow" and even a two-week Sony sponsorship of "Masterpiece Theater." Those "experiments" could soon be permanent.

Up to now, TV network sellers have not wanted to point out to the ad makers and buyers that it's the ads--and not the programs--that people are zipping by or avoiding, says media strategist Gene DeWitt. It makes no sense to produce "fantastic programs only to have a 30-second ad drive the viewer to change the channel" or migrate to a DVR or the Internet. DeWitt's solution is that ads become integrated into programs. That way, the ad creation process is taken over "by the networks and their production companies--people who understand what people want."

The fall schedules that were rolled out with limited fanfare this upfront showed the pain from the winter's writers strike will linger into next season--when the networks can least afford it. The strike fell during the networks' development season, when ideas are usually incubated. ABC and Fox executives admit that really hurt -- and forced cutbacks. As a result, television executives, who are usually shy about bold new ideas, "are hedging their bets even a little more," says veteran television critic David Bianculli. But the problem is that "the viewers are going to be going away for the …

Can dead brands that people still remember can be brought back to life? Consider Salon Selectives hair products. While these brands couldn't survive in the portfolio of a multinational parent, the world is changing. "As surely as the ownership of brands has consolidated through one megamerger after another, the consumer market seems to be moving in the opposite direction, with an individualism-fueled demand for almost unlimited variety" and a fragmented media marketplace that can serve smaller markets. This shifting demand means that perhaps there is now room for brands like Salon Selectives that can be "reanimated." …

The New York Times is launching a special online section for the 2008 Olympic Games with a new blog called "Rings," covering everything from the competition itself to the social, political and economic issues attached to the event. The something-for-everyone blog features analysis from sports, foreign and business reporters at both its flagship and global bureaus. It is meant to extend on the paper's Olympic coverage into an ongoing online conversation with readers. "The blog will serve as an engaging platform for continuous sports and news coverage during the Games," says deputy sports editor Sandy …

When it comes to Web video, CBS has been one of the most promiscuous media companies out there, even before it decided to buy CNET. CBS has video distribution deals with more than 300 sites, including YouTube, AOL, MSN, Bebo and TVGuide.com, lumped together into the CBS Audience Network, against which CBS sells its own ads. Now the CBS Audience Network has its own site, where it highlights its top partner sites, the most popular CBS videos on each and reinforces the CBS network brand. Users can see how many times each video has been watched and, most …