wo recent after-market deals for CW shows will make the network profitable -- but U.S. syndication, long a big partner in making money for premium shows, won't contribute to the process.

A male college student on a panel at the recent OMMA Video conference in San Francisco responded earnestly to a media question: "When you say 'live TV'... what do you mean? Could you elaborate a bit more?"

Does it matter where advertisers' TV budgets are coming from? For a long time -- even when cable TV was in its nascent stages during the 1980s and early 1990s -- media sellers always asked, "Is cable TV taking money from broadcast TV? Are budgets being shifted -- or rising overall?" Answering the questions was always a fun guessing game -- and perhaps not all that crucial in the long term.

Patience is a virtue -- except when you run a major broadcast network. Dave Cassaro is out as head of advertising sales for NBC Universal cable networks and Linda Yaccarino is in as senior executive of advertising sales -- perhaps in charge of all broadcast and cable ad sales operations.

Fox's first promo for the 11th season of "American Idol" is a happy affair. Premiering during the World Series, the spot shows "Idol" stars walking down a street. You first see judge Randy Jackson, then Jennifer Lopez, next Steven Tyler, and finally host Ryan Seacrest. Each walker seems to bring out musicians and singers on his or her stroll -- kind of like the mentors on Fox's "The X Factor."

Apple's Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson he wanted to do for television sets what he did for mobile phones. Jobs told him he had "cracked the secret."

  According to Nielsen, 40% of smartphone and tablet users are so fascinated with using those new devices while watching TV -- to check emails, send social messages or go to websites -- that TV programs could be suffering. Much has been made about social media helping TV shows. But maybe it doesn’t help the likes of "Modern Family," "The Vampire Diaries" or "The Walking Dead." Sixty percent of people with mobile devices surveyed said they checked email while watching TV, while 40% to 50% engaged in searches unrelated to the shows they were watching. All of which means …

New political or social movements have brand names that pull in some emotional value on TV. But what about specifics? That's elusive -- and probably should stay that way for short-term or mid-term success. The "Occupy Wall Street" movement has gained a lot of TV exposure. As usual, it comes from news coverage and virtually no paid messaging (though the movement now has some nice retro-looking, movie-like key art).

Now you might define profitability for a TV network by what kind of deal you make with the likes of Netflix. For CW -- and its co-owners, CBS and Warner Bros -- a long-term deal, possibly a billion dollars, with Netflix for the streaming rights to its prime-time shows will put the network in the black, according to Les Moonves, president/CEO of CBS Corp.

All roads are heading toward a very busy entertainment financial intersection of rising cable program costs meeting networks and content providers always searching for the next big thing. The thing: distribution.