NBC station group has a new president --- Valari Staab -- and among her first acts of business is renaming NBC Local Media, which is now NBC Owned Television Stations. The rebrand suggests a TV-first approach. "We are no longer referring to our stations as 'owned and operated' because while the stations are owned by NBC, they are operated by the local management team of each station. Our markets are separate and distinct," she noted in a memo to employees. Staab is a station group vet, having come to NBC from ABC, where she ran KGO San Francisco. Her …

Time Warner Cable's New York customers may see a change in their bill soon, as the cabler re-calibrates usage. The company is testing technology to measure consumption-based billing for broadband Internet use, said Chief Executive Officer Glenn Britt. Moving from a flat fee to consumption-based billing will likely allow consumers who use the Internet for just e-mail and basic searches to pay less, he said. But the service could impact companies like Netflix, where consumers use large amounts of bandwidth to stream video. Heavy Netflix users, who stream more than eight hours per month, would be most impacted, expected …

At the NCTA Cable Show, Comcast showed off its cloud-based user interface that will make TVs function more like computers with, for example, social hooks and non-TV content apps like weather, and an improved search function. But that means bye-bye to the set-top box. "What the cloud allows you to do is to have faster innovation," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts tells Gigaom. "Boxes have different generations, they become outdated... That doesn't happen in the cloud."

GQ magazine is taking its first step into etailership in a six-month deal with Park & Bond, the full-priced men's clothing site from Gilt Groupe set to launch later this summer. "Park & Bond will operate a GQ boutique on its main site, selling product chosen from the pages of GQ by creative director Jim Moore and his fashion team," according to Women's Wear Daily.

"Get ready to set your DVRs, people," writes The Hollywood Reporter's TV critic Tim Goodman. "It's summer, and you know what that means: the return of 'Mad Men'! What? Oh, right. It's not coming back this summer. It's coming back in the spring of 2012. Unless there are delays." Donald Draper fans might be pissed, but they'll still watch the cult hit when it does reappear, Goodman says. But other shows may not be so lucky: "Struggling series do not resuscitate themselves after an unexplained absence. They die," says Goodman in this argument against the extended TV series hiatus, …

Gawker Media's gaming site, Kotaku, will air the Japanese cult TV reality/comedy show "Retro Game Master." Dubbed in English, episodes will function as "live" TV, debuting each week at a specific time, and then be available on demand as "traditional Web video," writes All Things Digital.If this experiment goes well, then Gawker visitors can expect more full-length shows on various Gawker sites, says COO Gaby Darbyshire.

CBS News has partnered with National Journal, the magazine/Web site that focuses on Washington politics and policy, to cover the 2012 election season with a joint team of reporters who will follow the presidential candidate. Reports -- which will include videos and social media updates -- will appear on both organizations' Web sites.

"We are no longer a DVR company," Derrick Nueman, TiVo's head of investor relations, tells Adweek's D.M. Levine. OK, so what is the once-thriving company now? That's what it's trying to figure out as it faces a declining subscription base (down 22% last year) and the dying DVR market. With software "its greatest strength," TiVo is looking to rebrand itself "as easy-to-use gateway and platform for all types of video content." But is this strategy "the last, desperate ploy of the condemned"? Levine ponders this question in a short, analytical piece.

And speaking of TiVo and DVRs -- as we were in another item -- here's another possible competitor that market could face. Late this year or early next year, cable operator Comcast will begin testing a cloud-based video recording service that allows viewers to store programs remotely on Comcast's server computers instead of on set-top boxes.

Cablevision just launched a tool that lets marketers tag their TV ads with an email opt-in. Viewers can click a prompt to receive emailed product information, coupons, e-brochures and other promotional material directly to their email or other digital address.