It wouldn't be the start of a new television season if there wasn't a major dust-up or two. This year, there's been more like three or four. For today's TV Board post, I'd like to focus on just one: The spectacle surrounding Nielsen's decision to liberalize, then revoke its ratings reprocessing rules governing how multiple airings of the same network TV show can be reported.

f I ruled the world -- or more accurately, if I had the controlling stake in Google -- what exactly would I do with the fruits of my hard work and good fortune? Considering the company's performance and its mega-achievement of breaking through the $600-a-share barrier on Monday, it's a fun question to ponder.

why shouldn't media companies (content and distribution) train their customers in the proper utilization of their services? Consumers are lucky to have so many choices at such affordable prices. Given this line of thinking, it is only natural for us to tackle the commercial skipping phenomenon next -- one, that if not rectified, can bring financial ruin and devastation to the lucrative ad-supported TV business. Why not have the TV set self-destruct whenever someone attempts to fast-forward through a commercial? The mission, should we decide to accept it, has some potential impediments, though in my opinion surmountable.

When it comes to using the Internet as a means to an end, especially one that is entertainment related -- I am all for it. That is why I almost fell over this morning as I was reading the New York Times article "Dreaming Big About Acting Big"....

What would you think about an online "fantasy" game that offered $100,000 cash to the person who could best predict which shows the Nielsen households would watch over a nine-month period? Would you have a problem with it, if Nielsen household members -- or even Nielsen employees -- could play and win? Well, folks, such a game exists.

Effective with the start of the 2007-08 broadcast TV season, Nielsen introduced a disturbing new calculation technique. Effective immediately, if a network rebroadcasts a given program during a single telecast week and the show contains identical national commercial and program content, it can choose to report a single rating that includes both the original airing and any other incremental unduplicated viewing from the rebroadcast. Only one rating will be produced and credited to the original date and time. No separate audience information will be reported for the secondary telecast.

First, many thanks to those of you who last week kindly provided me with the suggestions I needed to fix my DVR problem. In the coming weeks I will be pleading for similar help on things like reducing my tax burden, losing weight and addressing my work/life balance, on the off chance you can sort out the rest of my life.

Last week NBC announced, as had its broadcast cohort ABC weeks prior, that the network has struck a deal with cable operator Cox to make available ad-supported episodes of its prime-time shows ("30 Rock," "Friday Night Lights," "Las Vegas," "Life" and "Bionic Woman") through the cabler's video on demand section, under the moniker of "My Primetime," to digital cable subscribers in their Orange County and Palos Verdes, Calif. markets. As part of the carriage arrangement, the fast-forward functionality will be disabled.

I am at a loss at to why the cable industry, accompanied by the content community and advertising community, still have not managed to make the strides necessary to jump-start video-on-demand advertising as the primary source of revenue. Oh sure, there is some movement, but by comparison to other technology markets, I am watching a snail race.

Highlights from a study: Advertiser usage of TV and video sites has increased dramatically since 2006. Similarly, a much larger proportion of our respondents met with a rep in the past twelve months than in 2006...