QUITE POSSIBLY, HE WAS JUST A LITTLE TOO PERSUASIVE -- Was it just us, or was that Paul Woolmington we saw being zapped in the middle of a PBS special about, what else, zapping? Actually, the program was an episode of "Frontline" entitled, "The Persuaders," and it was all about the "surprising methods" being used by today's marketers to "decipher who we are and what we want." But it seemed to us to be more of a rant about the Madison Avenue's incessant state of advertising overkill.

BLESS ITS POINTED LITTLE HEAD -- Who else was tickled by Advertising Age's announcement about the launch of Point, a new high-end ad industry magazine from the Crain Communications team that is aimed at C-level execs. No, it's not the concept that's making us chuckle.

WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT AMERICA WHEN MORE PEOPLE WATCH THE SUPER BOWL THAN ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE? - It's amazing, but true. According to Nielsen estimates, 55 million people watched the primetime coverage on the six major national TV networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News Channel, CNN, and MSNBC - that covered the election.

WHAT KIND OF COMPANY IS TIME WARNER? - Well, it's a little bit of everything: Part studio, record label, cable operator, publisher, TV network operator, and, of course, online service provider. But what kind of media company does it position itself as? In recent years, it has claimed to be a "commerce" company.

THE GREATEST ANCHOR OF OUR GENERATION - Tonight, after American voters have their say - or, more likely, in the days and possibly weeks ahead, when the American courts ultimately have their say - we'll finally know which White House tenant will be packing his bags. But another equally profound departure, overlooked in all the hoopla surrounding the presidency, will be taking place.

THE RIFF ENDORSEMENT - There's an interesting pre-Election Day stat you won't see covered much by the major media. The irony is it's a stat about how major media outlets would like to see the election turn out.

PUBLIC TRUST - Harry Pappas is a smart man and, from what we can tell, has always been a conscientious broadcaster operating in the best interest of the communities his Pappas Telecasting group has been licensed to serve. But we're beginning to wonder whether two of those words - "licensed" and "serve" - have slipped from his vocabulary.

14 MONTHS, SEVEN DAYS -- and depending on when you are reading this, a certain number of minutes and seconds. That's how long the countdown on Howard Stern's Web site says he has left on his contract with Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting unit.

PRODUCT DEBASEMENT - Rick Sirvaitis doesn't go public very often these days, but when he does, the General Motors media buying chief likes to stir things up. During a session at the American Magazine Conference in Boca Raton, Fla.

WHAT, WE WORRY? - Here we were sitting around, fretting about the precarious state of the world, the economy, and especially the media business, and about things as micro as clutter, ad effectiveness, and just what the heck "ROI" actually means. We were worrying about issues as macro as the geo-political climate, terrorism, and whether the price of oil will hit $50 a barrel, all of these things, when the reassuring investment banking team at The Jordan Edmiston Group (JEGI) came along and gave a reason to stop.