So when do you stop thinking that high Nielsen ratings ultimately mean success? 2015? 2020? Maybe it's today. CNN seems like a perfect example of this. We all know the story of how Fox News rocketed past CNN in viewership. But we're probably not focusing on the right numbers. According to Jonathan Klein, president of CNN U.S., the network has doubled its profitability over the past four years.

The Emmys, Golden Globes, and a host of other network-centric awards programs -- ESPN, TV Land, MTV and others -- honor the best in TV, either exclusively or as part a broader effort to honor other entertainment content as well. But apparently this isn't enough. The Paley Center for Media wants to create another awards show. There's money to be made.

What's going on with all this TV pulling? Viacom has "pulled" "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" off Hulu.comm and WABC New York is threatening to "pull" its signal off Cablevision Systems Corp. Why? Everyone is itchy about now-important new revenue -- money from digital platforms or retransmission agreements.

It's always been cable versus broadcast. And now Discovery Communications and Cablevision Systems are proving it. Those two cable companies are not encumbered by any corporate parent with a conflicting broadcast network, film studio, or theme park. So it makes sense Discovery is siding with Cablevisions Systems when it comes to now old-looking must-carry rules, which compel cable systems to carry TV stations in the market for no charge. Most stations would rather get money for their wares under retransmission agreement rules.

Five years after NBC answered the question the first time, it's now coming up again: Who will be the next "Tonight Show" host?

During the past two years, the number of people who bought music dropped by 20% to 93 million in 2009, versus 116 million in 2007. This was a part of a 10% overall pullback in 2009 of all music revenues in all recorded formats. Looking at the music business's downward trend, one can only wonder if the TV/video market could be headed in the same direction.

Unknown to most viewers, TV programmers can put commercials wherever they like. The benefit here? If, for example, there is no advertising in a given half-hour period of time, it doesn't officially count in TV ratings and viewership. NBC did just that on Wednesday night -- shifting all its advertising out of the first prime-time half-hour of its Olympic coverage. Why? Because it was going up against the all-powerful "American Idol" - and who wants to lose to that big TV franchise?

Broadcast and cable TV news shows continue to seek less expensive ways of getting content. Now ABC News is looking to make massive cuts to help get to this new financial model. It wants to trim between 300 and 400 jobs -- about a quarter of ABC News' workforce. Who will take the hit? The network didn't exactly say. But there's one hint in ABC's missive: It wants to increase the number of "digital" journalists.

As the NFL does with the Super Bowl, NBC executives talk about how families come together to watch the Winter Olympics. Big events like these are called family programming. I'm not sure this includes the video of the death of that luger right before the start of the games.

From reality to game shows, TV is as full of deception as ever. Now the Federal Communications Commission is looking into allegations about "My Little Genius," a show from last year that Fox decided not to air. Seems that maybe those little whiz-kids were given some topics and questions beforehand. This hearkens back to the 1950s, when Federal regulatory agencies investigated TV quiz shows.