Google's YouTube still doesn't make a profit, although it pulled in a big $4 billion in revenue in 2014, up from $3 billion in 2013. Which begs the question: Would a traditional TV network/station group survive investor criticism with these kind of bottom-line results?

Used to be that TV advertising revenue changes -- growth, declines, and everything in between -- would have a specific relationship to gross domestic product. Now that's no longer true.

NBC says money is being left on the table for one of its biggest shows. While "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" continues to dominate viewership numbers in traditional TV late-night programming, a majority of the show's overall viewing -- including digital - is not being paid for by advertisers (or perhaps subscribers).

Political advertising continues to be the real wildcard for TV stations' advertising results -- especially in that every-other-year cycle of mid-term/presidential elections. So far, the best year was the presidential election year 2012 , when $3.1 billion was spent.

Pick up and move to a bigger market if you are with a sports team. That's a key way to lift the value of the entertainment franchise, including NFL teams.

To be frank, TV Everywhere may be just TV Somewhere. In any event, it isn't ubiquitous; not what traditional TV executives want to see right now. And -- despite what many have said -- why do you see major media companies looking to strike out on their own with their own stand-alone cloud-based TV service? Protection for the future, seems to be the quiet answer.

Eliminate the middleman and you'll save money and be quicker to market. TV-wise, look at all the stand-alone, cloud-based digital start-ups: Sling TV, CBS All Access, as well as businesses yet to come, from HBO Go, Sony, and others. This could be all about eliminating the middleman: traditional pay TV providers.

Where does native advertising begin and end on TV? Almost to a point that you can't tell where the brand ends and the content begins -- warts and all.

Worries continue to arise about what will happen to advertising-supported TV in the light of more network deals with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.

So what if we got it all wrong? Maybe more money than realized will land on traditional TV than on digital services in the future years. This isn't to discount digital advertising growth -- just to alter those crazy expectations. For some time, many TV/Internet advertising estimates have been talking up how online revenue will be larger than traditional TV advertising revenues. And in particular, digital video will be a major factor. But there are some key variables to consider.