Time-shifting. User-generated content. Blogging. Community. Whichever rubric you pick, the marketing mix has changed considerably, with consumers emerging as more in control than ever. While marketers and agencies try to figure it out, the consumer gains yet more control, and the balance of power will only continue to shift over the next few years. The reaches of control, however, extend farther than just marketing, with consumers now dominating everything from communities to blogs to wikis.

Bud.TV doesn't appear to be doing too well. Anheuser-Busch has invested somewhere between $30 million and $40 million in the fledgling network so far, but only achieved 240,000 visits in the first month and 150,000 in the second, according to comScore Media Matrix. By my calculation, that's in the region of $100 per visit (or a CPM of $100,000) - expensive by any standard.

Oliver Wendell Douglas would be proud. It appears the media world is going back to Hooterville. PlanetGreen, recycled from the underperforming Discovery Home and soon to become the Discovery Channel's latest network, will push a 24-hour slate of organic lifestyle programming.

The very fact you are reading this article and this magazine is evidence that you are - in the nicest possible way - a freak of nature. That is not to impugn either you or the goodly publishers of Media magazine or my fellow contributors (all of whom are worthy, wonderful and intelligent people).

Here's a dilemma: Everywhere I go, I hear about the dearth of new talent available for hire in this industry. Agency executives across the country complain about the quantity and especially the quality of applicants. In fact, if I listened only to these executives, I would have to conclude we have a near-crisis on our hands when it comes to sourcing new talent for agencies.

As TV and the Internet battle for ad dollars, a new kid on the block is stealing the show. Spending on new types of out-of-home media, such as digital billboards and video screens, climbed 27 percent last year to $1.69 billion, according to media research firm PQ Media. That trend is expected to continue in 2007, with 28 percent growth, says the company.

Even Orc-slaying Night Elves need to put down their swords once in a while to refill on Diet Coke and pizza at the local 7-Eleven.

CBS and viacom are putting their money where their video is. Both have taken equity stakes in Joost, the online TV service launched by the creators of Skype and Kazaa.

NBC Universal decided to bring some Law & Order to the Wild West of Web video advertising in May when it set the standard length for a video clip at 15 seconds or less.

It's what radio listeners have always wished for - no more commercials.