One of the best media and marketing case studies in history never had a chance this year. Memorial Day was supposed to be Michael Jordan’s weekend. The weekend that he jump shot his underdog Washington Wizards into playoff glory and in the process took Nike, Gatorade and his other sponsors into sports marketing heaven.

Unless your head is still clearing from watching the SpongeBob SquarePants marathon on Nickelodeon, you’re probably aware that there is a video game trade show called E3 (Electronic Expo) in Los Angeles.

Editor and Publisher has just named its top 10 newspapers of the year, and guess what? Having a great accompanying website has nothing to do with excellence. The site is loaded with turnaround stories. Tales of newspapers that looked at declining readership and revenue and made changes to reverse their fortune.

When the airline industry was struck at its financial heart in September, the government was quick to lend a hand (read: money). Which was the right thing to do. Now the feds need to apply the same leniency and commerce-encouraging attitude to the advertising industry as well.

I believe the death of the network news program is greatly exaggerated. It has changed considerably, both in its content and the audience it delivers. But dead? No.

Why is radio able to post a one percent revenue increase for Q1 when newspapers, magazines and TV are still in the doldrums?

I see that a new report from research firm Insight Out of Chaos says marketers are having a tough time defining what customer relationship management means in theory and practice.

Some of the most creative media planning and buying comes in the form of sponsorships. To me, it’s a ticket to unpredictability and strong emotional consumer connection. I’m not talking about old-fashioned sponsorships.

I actually like some of the shows ABC introduced at “Upfrontstock” yesterday. What I liked the most about ABC’s strategy is its willingness to launch new shows in January, which they will do after Monday Night Football is over.

Couple of things surprised me in last week’s Publisher’s Information Bureau report on magazine revenue for April. If you missed it, it showed revenue is down big time on a year-to-date basis over 2001. And 2001 stunk.