Among 103 emerging television networks measured in a recent study of 8,000 Americans surveyed on their perceptions and attitudes towards media, regional network Plum TV and Gospel Music Channel, along with Spanish-audience targeted Voy Network, are leaders in capturing the hearts of their viewers and delivering greater value to their advertisers.

Let me begin by tossing a question out there to the five or six of you who don't work for a monopoly or oligopoly: What ever happened to the idea of REQUIRING competition? Seriously, how many of you feel safe and secure knowing that the Nielsen Company claims that it has "no choice" but to strike a deal with Google, after Nielsen has left YOU with no choice for the better part of half a century?

Prior to the introduction of DVRs, researchers alleged that 45% of commercials were not viewed in TV households -- both analog and digital. Studies indicate that DVR households skip upwards of 80% of commercials. However, we do not believe that DVRs will have significant impact on commercial viewing in the aggregate and do strongly believe that the next iteration of DVR advertising propositions will meaningfully add to the marketer's arsenal of applications to connect to its potential customer for the following reasons....

Nothing has quite the dramatic effect on your media habits, purchasing behaviors, and sleeping pattern than the introduction of a new baby into your household. Remember those first days? Experiencing them right now? Or just shuddering at the thought of it? The behavior changes are swift and resonate throughout your entire household all day, every day. This is why a "vertical marketing list" of new-parent households is such a valuable marketing tool. During these periods of lifestage changes, our previous attachments to brands and products destabilize and we become open to new-product offers.

Last week, I weighed in on the state of the new television season, comparing the fall season to the baseball season - looking for hits in a lackluster season. My regular readers know I'm a big-time Yankee fan with season tickets and a passion for baseball, so baseball analogies come easy to me (although their relevance is often less than obvious).

Recently, I was asked to give a presentation on the "New World Order" for advertisers and media owners. What a daunting challenge. New means it's fresh, different and up to date.mOrder means there are things in their place; logical and systematic. World means wide scale, outside the boundaries and all inclusive and embracing. It sounds utopian, with lambs gamboling across Elysian Fields with bucolic joy. It's just wonderful, and it's perfection. But it's not a reality; a new world order is a pipe dream.

The erosion of the broadcast schedule and the redefinition of prime time is a theme that continues to pervade many discussions and commentaries on Things That Are Important to the media community. Although obviously not new (think VCR), the extent to which the morphing of the schedule has accelerated in the last ten years cannot have been missed by any but the most myopic of observers.

Last week I was contacted by a reporter who was writing a piece about video on demand. She opened our interview with, "Hasn't VOD been a disappointment? Hasn't broadband video really just taken the wind out of its sails?" What about wireless video, I quipped. Hook, line and stinker, she jumped on that bandwagon too. We were two peas in the VOD-bashing pod.

So, I will admit it upfront -- I am a huge fan of Angie Harmon. She was one of the only reasons I watched "Law & Order," and the main reason why I stopped watching it the day she left. So I was thrilled to see her return to television in "Women's Murder Club" last Friday. The ABC rookie drama averaged a 2.5/8 in 18-49 and 10.8 million viewers overall -- the best demo delivery, according to Variety, for ABC in the 9 p.m. time slot since May 2006 and the largest total-viewer figure since 2003. It even kept pace …

There's been a redundant theme to so many events of the past month: "Wait until next year. We'll do better next year."