JUST AN OFFLINE MINUTE (TWO OF THEM, ACTUALLY) - We were still counting the minutes waiting for the arrival of the one-second unit of sale that Fox sales chief Jon Nesvig recently told a roomful of national advertisers would soon become the standard bearer of the TV advertising business, when we opened today's Wall Street Journal -- actually, we clicked on the Wall Street Journal Online - to learn that big marketers may be moving in the opposite direction, purchasing longer-form ad units that wrap multiple brand messages under a new format that the paper dubbed a "show-mercial." The concept …

HERE'S THE LATEST OUTLOOK, ALL FIVE YEARS OF IT -- It's that time of year again: outlook season. And smack dab in the middle of a series of revised forecasts issued recently by Universal McCann, Monitor-Plus and CMR and ones later this year by Veronis Suhler Stevenson and MEDIA magazine, comes one released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

TV INDUSTRY DISCOVERS THE VALUE OF PR - Some radical ideas on the future of TV advertising are coming not from the major ad agencies, or even from consumer marketers, but from the TV industry itself. We may forget, but TV networks, channels and program distributors are some of the biggest users of TV advertising time, as well as so-called "off-air" advertising time and space.

WHAT'S BLACK AND WHITE AND BROWN - BUT NOT YET YELLOW, RED OR EVEN LAVENDER - ALL OVER? - The Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau's new "Upfront 04/05 Multicultural Marketing Guide" is a great idea and chockfull of the kind of valuable information about the burgeoning multicultural marketplace that any serious planner would want to get his or her hands on. It's just a little late.

CONSTRUCTION PAGE FIRST, BETTER RESULTS LATER - It's been a while since we've had a reason to land on the MediaCom website, so we were surprised by the snappy, syncopated music and hip moving graphics when we stumbled on the page this week.

HERE'S A PREDICTION YOU'RE NOT LIKELY TO HEAR BOB COEN MAKE - Of the many impertinent questions reporters cast at Bob Coen during his mid-year updates, none have yet asked the industry seer to forecast the most obvious question of all: when he plans to retire? Not that it wasn't on the minds of some journalists, and maybe even some Interpublic executives, when Coen was introduced Tuesday as having done the agency's bi-annual forecasts since 1948. By the Riff's math, that's 56 years and maybe it is time for some new blood.

P&G's HIRED GUNN - In case you hadn't gotten it yet, Procter & Gamble wants to change how ad agencies handle media. It made that clear when global marketing officer Jim Stengel made his rallying cry during the American Association of Advertising Agencies media conference in February.

MERRILL LYNCH FLEXES '04 QUAD, IMPROVES ITS OUTLOOK -- Just one day before Universal McCann ad scorekeeper Bob Coen issues his midyear outlook for the U.S.

LESS MAY BE MORE FOR OUTDOOR ADVERTISING -- Lately, we've been hearing a lot of buzz about VAI. No it's not a new PC line from Sony.

KERRY'S TV BUYS APPROACH THE BUSH LEAGUE -- Ever since he emerged as the presumed Democratic candidate for President, John Kerry has narrowed George W. Bush's lead in the polls.