YouTube continues to be positioned as a considerable threat when it comes to starting up premium TV channels -- somewhat akin to Hulu. But is it serious or just still messing around?

There should be more "diary of a cord cutter" pieces like the one the Washington Times ran this week. It's a subject that captivates just about everyone in media -- and it's a lot of fun to analyze a person or household's attempt to save maybe $2,000 or so a year.

E! has made big business of all things Kardashian. Can it extend this relationship further -- through thick and thin? Only your favorite advertising knows for sure.

The New York Times' circulation is up for the first time in five years, movie prices rose over the last three months, and there's more money for home video entertainment sales for the first time in nearly four years. Are things changing for the media industry, is it more of the same, or just a couple of regularly untimed blips?

Would-be marketers, big and small, are always looking for some big TV impact, hopefully in the middle of the biggest event in television, the Super Bowl. Many have the wherewithal, only to be rejected for content issues. Others lack the basics, so they resort to Plan B. The great state of Kentucky now has the first problem, looking to help pay a big $3.5 million for 30 seconds worth of prime television viewer attention during the Super Bowl on NBC come this February.

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."