TV-style advertising that disappears? Sounds like, well, TV advertising. Your friendly TV media buyer always thinks along those lines. So you might see the same financial TV commercial on CNBC from one day to another... and another. TV/video advertising is still all about reach and frequency - or, as our dearly departed friend Erwin Ephron would say, "recency." This is an area the social media messaging app SnapChat seemingly wants to play in, with messages that disappear soon after their respective release.

Some time ago a business associate I needed to be in touch with said this: "Do we have to talk on the phone? Can't we just do this via e-mail!" I get it. People need to be very efficient these days. Still, email can't accomplish everything. Sarcasm can be tough to convey, for example. A wink, a nod, a raised eyebrow: also difficult.

Producing high-priced TV shows means grappling with many complex factors: scheduling, cast, production costs, as well as pre-existing deals with TV producers. New digital platforms have their own way. Amazon has been allowing viewers to vote whether to go ahead with a TV series after one episode. Given what happened with its show "Transparent," which just won two Golden Globes, it would seem Amazon is making the right call.

Try to calculate the extra promotion zip for a TV show from social media or award show honors. The answer is that it'll always be hard to qualify. But one thing for sure: Better to have it than not.

LAS VEGAS -- Buckle up your new media engagement issues. The Belty -- an electronic belt buckle (yes, that's right) -- was a curious favorite at the Consumer Electronics Show. The Belty can sense you've perhaps eaten too much after a meal, and it will adjust to your expanded waistline and open your belt a bit. New wearable devices like the Belty should go further and help us with television watching. Gorging yourself on some fattening TV shows? Perhaps a suspenseful, tight-wound TV drama? Think about a Belty pinch -- or two. One big happy, fall-on-the-floor comedy? Open things up …

Short-form programming? Cable-like niche, or "dark" programming? Forget it -- at least at Fox Television Group, according to new senior executives Dana Walden and Gary Newman.

Expecting high price increases from your pay TV provider in the coming months? Perhaps we can expect something else in light of those increases: more talk about cord-cutting, cord-shaving; and a la carte programming.

As a new entertainment year starts up, one thing is sure: Consumers will continue to be price-sensitive -- even when they might be living in a pipe dream.

Yahoo wants to buy a cable network -- now? All this would seem to be a business decision that the company should have made before -- oh, I don't know, in 1999 maybe?

As technology changes, so does consumer behavior. From the original 13 broadcast channels to nearly 300 on cable to the phenomenon of streaming, "appointment TV" has been radically altered.