Todd Cunningham, senior vice president, strategic insights and research, for Viacom Media Networks (previously known as MTV Networks), built his career starting on the agency and branding side of media and marketing. Coming to VMN has been a natural fit for Todd who can now mesh his love of music and pop culture with his love of research. In my interview with him, Todd talks about his work at VMN, cross-platform research methods, and his work for CTAM as a co-chair of the recent Insights Conference Planning Committee.

The remarkable ratings for "The "Jersey Shore," which concluded its fourth season last week, have caused a great deal of soul searching, teeth gnashing and garment rending among those whose job it is to track the decline of western civilization. And it is true that the behavior exhibited by the 20somethings on "The "Jersey Shore" is considerably cruder than was portrayed by characters of the same demographic group in the more innocent era of "Laverne and Shirley." However, as someone who came to the series this year expecting "Fall of the Roman Empire" behavior, I was surprised to discover that …

With all eyes on prime time during the first few weeks of the new season, it has been easy to lose sight of everything that is happening in daytime, a daypart that is either falling to pieces or rebuilding itself, depending on one's point of view. A lot has changed in a relatively brief period of time, and there will be more seismic shifts in the months ahead. But one big development has already had a huge impact: the loss of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

he past few columns have explored the range of common terms and common language between the current media marketplace and the emerging STB and Addressable marketplace. This week we look at a range of terms and definitions all related to purchasing that refer to similar behaviors but might have dissimilar definitions, measurement criteria or applications. In this landscape you need to pack a lexicon so you don't get lost.

Barely a day goes by when there isn't some news about electronic tablets. Tablets threaten to supplant a number of technologies, such as notebooks, music players and DVDs, while providing new platforms for newspapers, magazines and books. But what about over-the-air video? Tablets offer a new outlet for movies and the product previously known as "television." Is this a good thing for the TV industry? A year ago, I'd have scoffed at the idea that tablets would have any impact at all on television but now I'm not so sure.

Operating an entrepreneurial business in the television industry -- as many of us do -- has a lot in common with playing extreme sports. After all, when you're breaking new ground in TV or in sports, you're dancing with a porcupine: You never know how it's going to turn out. Entrepreneurs and extreme athletes blaze the same course. You hone your skills, develop your team (of investors, strategic partners, staff), and rally support (financial and other). You build trust in your team and partners and measure the competition. You train hard, put in the hours, and then leap off the …

Syfy's fifth annual Digital Press Tour this week reinforced what regular attendees of this confab have known for years: It is one of the most efficient and innovative publicity and promotion events in the business. One might suggest that press conferences in the digital age that are specifically targeted to Web writers, dedicated bloggers and epic tweeters ought to take place online. But watching attendees interact with Syfy's talent and executives throughout the one-day tour only reinforced the value of in-person contact, especially in a media-driven environment that encourages instant and continuous communication between all participants.

With Steve Jobs' passing last week at too young an age, we lost the single most influential technology icon ever. The media industry lost another key driving figure in Arthur C. Nielsen, Jr., who also died last week at the ripe old age of 92. There aren't many executives whose names become synonymous with the service they provide; Nielsen was one of them. He took his dad's small, Chicago-based market research firm -- one of the first to measure food and drugstore sales -- and turned it into what would become a billion-dollar operation. Whatever your opinion of the Nielsen …

The "big news" about the opening weeks of the 2011-12 television season is that comedy is hot again. It certainly is a good time for broadcast sitcoms, but how could it not be, with media magnet Ashton Kutcher stepping into CBS' "Two and Half Men" and ABC's "Modern Family" making its season-three debut four days after winning five Emmys -- not to mention all the well-deserved fuss surrounding that surprise Emmy win for Melissa McCarthy, star of "Mike & Molly," the comedy that follows "Men"?

CIMM is taking a pro-active role in advancing new media nomenclature and processes with both its Lexicon (terms and definitions associated with Set-Top Box data measurement) and Asset Identification Primer (glossary of asset terms). These documents form the basis of the Word-A-Week column which offers a common language for Set-Top Box nomenclature that can expedite the rollout of the data for its many industry applications.