Maybe Dish Network's Hopper isn't such a big thing after all. At a Broadcasting & Cable conference, Adam Gaynor, director of advertising sales for Dish Network, discussed what Hopper -- the controversial device that can skip through huge chunks of prime-time broadcast TV commercials -- meant for potential Dish clients, TV advertisers, "Yes, people were upset," he said, according to B&C. "When you speak to them and communicate with them, what we have to offer is a lot stronger than this little thing over here that's not really affecting our clients."

After 14 years, the music industry has finally got it right. For the first time since 1999, music industry revenues are up.Lessons learned here should be shared by other entertainment businesses, like TV industry: There can be light at the end of the tunnel -- miles long, in a lot of darkness -- even when you mess up.

For TV executives, looking for an extra 2% in the short term might mean sacrificing 50% in the long term. Right now, says Needham & Co.'s Laura Martin, networks are "fighting over the 0-2% viewing growth pie rather than the 50% viewing growth pie."

Dismal overall ratings, hyped new broadcast shows that can't even get 1.5 rating points among key 18-49 viewers, existing shows that have taken a sudden turn for the worse, and relatively little excitement for viewers. That's the current state of Tvland. Looking forward to next season?

What's your family watching these days? The NFL? CNBC? Fox's "Raising Hope"? No matter. Traditional TV advertisers may tell you there is still not enough family-oriented TV programming.

Digital content businesses continue to seek customers who "check in" a couple of times a day to their areas. Should TV networks look to to do the same -- and can that activity be monetized?

If you're CBS, Discovery, A&E Networks or Scripps Networks, you are not getting what you should from your loyal consumers. The question is: "How do you get it?"

News reported on television has been moving at different speeds recently, from a limping cruise ship at 5 mph (riveting!) to an asteroid breezing the earth at 18,000 mph.

Nobody wants to be embarrassed by a bad TV carriage deal. Dish Network says it got the short end of the stick with ESPN - and is making that claim in a lawsuit now going to trial before a jury.

Increasingly, television has been having an uneasy relationship with print media -- especially in big media companies. And so Time Warner is looking to sell off a number -- maybe all -- of its iconic Time Inc. magazines. Recently, News Corp. had similar news, saying it would spin off its newspaper assets from its film and TV businesses. Other smaller local TV groups went the same way years before.