Just when you thought all broadcast networks and stations might turn into cable networks and platforms in the near future, there was a somewhat unexpected legal loss for one company that was streaming over-the-air content without paying access fees.

Microsoft's purchase of Nokia means only one thing to most people: a hopeful attempt to stir the software technology giant through the rough and tumble world of the wildly promising mobile business by marrying mobile software with mobile hardware. Can the TV industry make the same case these days for merging software (content) with hardware (technology/devices/platforms)?

Viewers of Time Warner Cable were pissed they could not get CBS or Showtime. But, for many, there wasn't a clear picture about what the real battle was about -- until the big "aha" digital moment. That happened when CBS watchers tried to get CBS and Showtime programming online -- and weren't able to access that programming. Aha! While big retransmission revenues seemed important, digital transmission of shows now and in the future seemed to be the key.

All traditional TV news channels have a common desire to feed information mostly to what is the "TV news demographic": those 25-54, or in overall TV terms, "older" viewers. What about looking for the next wave of TV news consumers: millennials?

The more mature the cable network business becomes, the harder -- and longer -- it takes for new channels to succeed. For example, in August we witnessed unimpressive rating numbers for the start of Fox Sports 1 and Al Jazeera America.

Just a couple of weeks away from the period where broadcast networks bump and grind into another for the fall season, they'll also be wondering again where TV ratings might land. Wonder? Actually, it's more about unrealistic hope -- because of the likelihood the nets will fail again to produce more gross ratings points than they give up.

Binge TV viewing -- yesterday's marvel giving consumers exactly what they want -- may turn out to an albatross for some. Netflix, for one, has had success touting binge viewing. Its customers can be found viewing all 13 episodes of its original series "House of Cards" in one weekend. But binge viewing doesn't help Netflix's long-term business plan, because the same viewers will be looking for something new next weekend. Can Netflix keep up that kind of production pace? Of course not.

How to resurrect a TV career to all-knowing TV viewers? That's a hurdle for ESPN with Keith Olbermann, the longtime sportscaster and newscaster, most recently with Current after a long stint at MSNBC. Olbermann has had a very public history of being an on-air commentator who is brilliant but difficult to work with -- resulting in ESPN's need to acknowledge this in an on-air promo for "Olbermann," his new 11 p.m. weekday late night show on ESPN2, which started this week.

Do big sports franchises have some say over how their TV networks view them? The New York Times says the NFL put pressure on ESPN to abandon a co-production title on a PBS "Frontline" special report about the health of NFL players.

Despite what may be ongoing prevalent thinking, not everyone knows how to produce real quality TV shows. Who does that kind of work? The best TV creative minds, of course. Now go figure out how to get them. What's preventing more quality work is feeble-minded TV executives.