How much of the new market economics HBO can attract and how much of its core business it can grow is a matter of response and timing. It reflects the quandary confronting so many other legacy companies caught in the digital shift.

The broadcast networks will become less viable for their general branded scheduled platforms and more for their TV studios. That new dynamic could ultimately give the broadcast network companies an edge over their cable rivals.

All the fuss over Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype from analysts and media misses some big issues which make the deal's outcome anything but a sure bet. The most pointed question: How long it will take the software giant to destroy Skype's unique value proposition?

Without new rules of play, media and marketing companies can get hurt in these transforming times. The four Cs -- consumers, content, curation and convergence -- provide an orderly way to examine the chaotic reinvention of all things media.