DirecTV and Dish Network are trying again -- to merge. This time it might work. In 2002, the two large satellite TV programming companies attempted a merger, but the FCC and the Justice Department's antitrust division put the kibosh on it. The then-still-growing satellite TV business -- a big competitor to the likes of cable TV operators -- poised a monopolistic threat. But today? Not so much.

Digital and online platforms won't be eroding much traditional broadcast and cable upfront dollars -- not unless marketers like to spend more money per thousand viewers. This is the time of year TV advertisers may be looking for alternatives to the high-priced CPMs of network and cable television. But that doesn't come with general online video -- even so-called premium online video. Generally, it'll cost marketers more to access those platforms for premium TV programs -- higher CPMs on average -- at least versus cable.

Too much of a good thing? Or just TV shelf space for the future? NBC says it will launch six new original scripted series this summer, its largest number of off-season shows ever.

In South Korea, the best noise on TV and video screens these days is one of slurping, chewing, and gnashing. Growing audiences there are riveted with people eating. Let me be specific: This is about the sometimes-messy job of eating on TV -- not cooking, not restaurant remodeling, not business entrepreneurship of the culinary.

Social media and TV are good, but on-air promos are three times better -- especially for getting people to watch new shows. A new Council on Research Excellence study, from the Keller Fay Group and fielded by Nielsen Life360, makes that point. It also seems that social media, as many have said, isn't spread equally among a broad range of demographics.

In a groundbreaking pact, Netflix agreed to pay a separate fee for a more direct broadband connection to Comcast. The deal came about because Netflix customers were getting lots of buffering messages and other interruptions in their video content.

Major U.S. sports franchises have somehow missed the advertising revenue that comes to almost all other worldwide sports -- including international soccer, Formula 1 car racing and pro cycling-- from marketing on uniforms. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expects advertisers to get signage on uniforms within five years. That would make pro basketball the first of the big four U.S. sports to do so.

The National Association of Broadcasters asked the Federal Communications Commission for a review of pay TV advertising practices, saying that local market cable TV "interconnects" ad sales groups are in effect an act of "collusion" which "deserves better oversight of the FCC."

TV networks in the future will take heart that some key TV viewing habits of the past will increasingly look to make a return -- that is, "watching" TV commercials. New results from FreeWheel say 90% of TV commercials on long-form digital videos -- those 20 minutes or more -- are seen until completion.

Reading the tea leaves through Steve Jobs in regards to an Apple-manufactured television set can be disheartening -- and enlightening. According to a new book, Jobs said in 2010 that "TV is a terrible business. They [television sets] don't turn over, and the margins suck."