At NAPTE, Jeff Zucker and Ben Silverman spoke candidly about their futures, while Silverman discussed the limitations on entrepreneurship he faced in his tenure at NBC. He noted that silos in big-company structures kept departments from talking to each other, making new initiatives difficult.

When Skip Bayless left sports writing in San Jose to join ESPN, he told readers he had always hungered to move to New York and play for the Yankees. Referring to ESPN's dominance and budget, he said that "ESPN has become the Yankees."

Dear America: hold on, don't let her go. She's nearly 78. You've embraced Betty White -- why not Joan Rivers? Sure, she's easy to lampoon; there's more material than Snooki or Sheen, but in between her new reality show and the "Fashion Police," the 2010 documentary "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" is a revealing look at the woman behind the laugh lines.

A federal judge's decision striking down charges that Nielsen runs a monopoly makes it clear that the company will always provide the currency in the national TV market. Decades-long speculation that a viable challenger will overtake Nielsen can simply end. Stick a fork in it.

A certain type of conversation that broke out during the Golden Globes on Sunday highlighted once again why this is indeed a golden age of television. Call it the "never-heard-of-it" exchange. It's been filling up dinner parties for some time, while breaking out over cubicle walls in the workplace. Even a decade ago, though, there was barely a trace of it -- really no need for it.

Cramer-Krasselt has been recruited by NCC Media, the former National Cable Communications, for a two-step branding project. The initiative involves spot cable, but much more. First, the agency will define a product, then promote it in a trade campaign in the spring. C-K is hoping it will get the same traction it earned in a landmark 2002 effort.

When it comes to late-night hosts, has America ever been more fascinated with relationships between a foursome since the Beatles broke up? The seeming addiction to the ups and downs between Conan, Jay, Dave and Jimmy has passed its sell-by date, don't you think?

Maybe it's not surprising that the head writer of Comedy Central's new sports show "SportDome" from satirical news group the Onion is a Buffalo Bills fan. Satire and the long-suffering, heart-breaking Bills would seem to be a good marriage. "SportsDome" parodies the bizarre on- and off-the-field behavior of athletes, and the ludicrousness in the televised sports media landscape.

Back in August, Time Warner Cable PR executive Jeff Simmermon offered a curious confession: He was a passionate cord-cutter. Somehow, he had survived without cable. Not just in his previous incarnations, but for the first 18 months on the job at TWC.

Several years ago, marketers were running so much "green advertising" that Discovery launched the Planet Green network, in part, to capture a bigger chunk. Recently, advertisers may have pulled on the "It's a Start"-type efforts that BP was airing -- obviously the oil company had other reasons for a slowdown -- but CBS Corp. still believes there is ample green to be made from green marketing.