NBC OLYMPICS: RINGS, G-STRINGS, AND A BIT OF BADDA-BING - The history books say Olympic competitions were originally performed in the nude. And if NBC had its way, they might well be televised that way today.

SOUNDS MORE LIKE "GOO-GOO" - The best part about Google finally going public is that we can now read about it on Yahoo! Not surprisingly, the first sentiment to be posted on Yahoo! Finance's investor message boards was: "Goog Way Overpriced." But that posting by "Gaazn" made at 9:51 a.

A FEW DEVELOPMENTS THAT DEMAND YOUR ATTENTION - These days, Madison Avenue seems transfixed by prospects for video-on-demand and the impact server-based program delivery will have on viewing to TV programming and advertising. And with good reason, VOD is a real deal-changer for just about everyone concerned - programmers, networks, advertisers, and especially consumers.

MADISON AVENUE ADDS SOME ENTITIES WILLING TO DISCLOSE THEIR Ad- IDENTITIES - It's been a while since we've heard any major news concerning Ad-ID, the digital code developed by the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies that is intended to function as the "equivalent of the marketing community's UPC code." The code, which was introduced two years ago by the trade associations as a solution for marketers seeking to traffic their advertising content in a digital media world, sure seemed like a logical and indispensable tool, but we couldn't understand why there wasn't more of …

AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN TO THE HURDLES YET -- Apparently, it's not just the Athens Olympics stadiums that are full of empty seats. So are NBC's Olympic TV households.

MORE FUN THAN A FIVE RING CIRCUS - "One." We felt the butterfly strokes in our stomachs the first few times we saw Michael Phelps touch Liberty Island in the evocative Olympics-themed Visa spot, but after viewing it countless times leading up to and during the Games themselves, we're starting to think the campaign may have swum one lap too many, especially for people who're watching the Games via a digital video recorder.

ABC NEWS, NOW? - It's been more than two decades since it first took a shot at the 24-hour cable news business, but ABC apparently hasn't given up on the idea. Twenty-one years after it scrapped its ill-fated Satellite News Channel venture with Westinghouse's Group W unit (now ironically part of CBS), ABC is quietly rolling out a 24-hour cable news service, according to BusinessWeek.

ALL THE NEWS FIT TO DISCOUNT - Of all the media planning issues circulating around print departments these days, none seem to loom so large as, well, circulation. It's not that there hasn't always been a great deal of discussion, debate, finger-pointing, interpretation, and obfuscation surrounding print circulation reports.

EXTRA, EXTRA, TERRESTRIALS, READ ALL ABOUT IT - We were scrolling through the pages of NewScientist.com when it dawned on us that the rapid growth of cable and satellite TV isn't simply an issue for advertisers, agencies and consumers on this planet, but could very well be a big deal for those residing in other parts of the universe too.

POWER TO THE 'PEOPLE' (SOME PEOPLE, ANYWAY) -- Okay, we get it. People come first. That's the theme of MediaCom's new marketing pitch: "People First, Better Results." But it seems some people come in more first than others.