His name is Mitch Altman, and he is a television advertiser's worst nightmare. As the inventor of TV-B-Gone, a keychain device designed to universally turn on or turn off virtually any television, Altman has enabled people to zap screens in public places restaurants, hospitals, and bars with the simple push of a button.

In the banquet room of a swanky hotel, attractive people with flawless skin, extra-white teeth, and trim figures devour trays of champagne, sushi, and chicken satay. The talk turns to Botox and tummy tucks. No, it's not a Hollywood shindig but an event hosted by Cosmetic Beauty Magazine, designed to bring Minnesota cosmetic physicians together with patients and the media. "The plan is to establish Cosmetic Beauty Magazine in individual local markets so that [regional] advertisers are more satisfied with their return on investment and the magazine is regarded as part of the local press," says Michelle …

Cold Stone Creamery is ready for its close-up, Mr. DeMille. The popular ice cream franchise has changed its "to go" packaging from white to red in an effort to boost store sales and score branded entertainment deals.

In the simpler days of yore, movie studios rarely broke a sweat to ensure awareness of their mega-blockbusters. They'd merely badger Entertainment Weekly into a cover story, buy up most of the commercial real estate during NBC's must-see Thursday shows, and let nature run its ugly course. In the wake of New Line's campaign around the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, however, studios have found themselves confronted with a demanding new audience: fans eager to inhale every morsel of pre-release info.

Welcome to Media's 2006 Rising Stars! We invited you to nominate the most stellar up-and-comers you know  and you did. We received loads of entries putting forth creative individuals who distinguish themselves by taking unconventional approaches to media challenges and who help turn good plans into brilliant ones. While we scrapped the age requirement, we sought people who continue to grow evolve, and rise in their careers. We eliminated nominees with puffy titles; we didn't consider vice presidents, managing directors, and other purportedly high-level talent. We wanted nominees who are slightly beyond entry-level and swimming …

Think gas prices are inflated? Worried about the housing "bubble"? While economists and soothsayers dwell on the obvious economic indicators, they may also want to check out America's relentlessly growing monthly media bill: magazines, cable, TiVo, video-on-demand, broadband Internet, iPod downloads, and mobile TV. The un-examined flip side of media fragmentation is that more platforms require more consumer spending: more than $1,000 per person by 2010, according to projections from Veronis Suhler/PQ Media. All of which raises the obvious question of whether Americans are approaching some kind of media threshold -- an unsustainable bubble of subscriptions?

The pause factor and other wonders of the digital world At the end of each workday, I stop by my apartment before going to the gym or out with friends to catch a few minutes of the nightly news. Well, actually, the nightly news from the night before or, to be precise, the news according to Jon Stewart. With a few perfectly choreographed touches of the remote, I prime my digital video recorder (DVR) to seamlessly record "The Daily Show," which airs at 11 p.m. EST on Comedy Central. I watch it the next day …

User-generated content is not new to TV networks: TV programming visionary Brandon Tartikoff saw it coming. Back in the early 1990s, Tartikoff spoke at a meeting of the National Association of Television Program Executives about how consumers would be in control, on a personal level, of entertainment in the future.

Not so long ago, Google ad chief Tim Armstrong was asked to identify his status on the food chain. Specifically, would he define himself as a media mogul? "No," he answered quickly, because these days the kingpins are "the users of the world."

Shortly after Publicis Groupe unveiled Denuo, I sat down with Rishad Tobaccowala, the new media practice's CEO, and asked him to explain its business model to me. "I can't really do that," he said, adding, "because it keeps changing." Instead, he described elements of what he thought Denuo might do. It would advise marketers and agencies on new media developments and futures. It would help research and develop some of those futures by working with next-generation media companies on behalf of marketers and agencies. And, when appropriate, it would consider backing some of those efforts financially with …