The argument may be trite, but it is the right one: perhaps a college football playoff won't diminish the regular season, but why take the chance? Actually for those so hungry for a playoff, the season is set up that it essentially offers one already -- one that lasts three months. Networks can't take the risk of alienating fans, so they should be quiet about it, but they'd be wise to oppose one, too. There is the possibility that there would be fewer make-or-break regular-season games and their ratings would be impacted. And, particularly for ESPN, it will cost a …

The September move by Starz resembled one long-time Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley would have made: no need to wait for public reaction, if it feels right, speed forward. Pleased with the initial episodes of drama "Boss," Starz executives went ahead and ordered a second season before it had even premiered. Viewers should be thankful. Kelsey Grammer turns in an Emmy-worthy performance as Chicago Mayor Tom Kane, a man in conflict though not in his desire to maintain power. With its layered storylines touching on urban political corruption and the thuggish Kane, the serial might be described as a cross …

Not many can offer insight on the sports TV landscape and how the groundwork was laid over the past 25 years as sagely as Harvey Schiller. Frankly, it's surprising he hasn't written a book. His impressively varied career has included leading the SEC and helping the highly successful YES Network get off the ground. In between, he served as executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee and head of Turner Broadcasting's sports operations. So, he's negotiated Olympic TV rights deals, overseen NFL broadcasts and developed a regional sports network - all right in line with catalysts in sports TV today. …

It's time for President Obama to place a call to some of Hollywood's top reality TV producers and convince them to join the federal government. The president needs to prevail on their sense of patriotism and tell them their country needs them. With all kinds of financial problems, the government has an untapped avenue to bring in needed revenue: reality TV. It's sitting on a bevy of material that would make for gripping shows and could launch bidding wars between networks, yielding huge rights fees that could go right toward cutting the deficit.

While Nielsen has no plans to bring commercial ratings to the local marketplace, tension remains between agencies and stations on a ratings system that would take into account DVR-enabled ad skipping. The TVB has a proposal that builds off an estimate that 50% of time-shifted ads are skipped.

In this month's "Insights & Insanity," Stephen Colbert's Super PAC gets a demerit for an ad about the folly of the NBA lockout. The target was too easy. Hopefully, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow will stick with the ludicrousness in Washington, not including the NBA's Wizards. Meanwhile, while Apple TV hasn't exactly taken off in the U.S., it appears to have a following on the Iberian peninsula.

You know the economy is bad when people actually begin to care about the news. But Americans' vote with their pocketbooks and the resurgence in TV news viewing clearly is an extension of that. The economy has contributed to rising broadcast news ratings and interest in Republican debates. Programmers are looking to tap into the interest with CBS offering more hard news; NBC debuting a new prime-time newsmagazine and even local broadcasters investing more in investigative journalism.

CBS planned to make one of the bolder moves of the new TV season, one that could have set in motion at least a partial strategic shift in the industry. Now, effectively the experiment is over before it started.

Some say adoption of 3D TV has been slower than expected. But, 3D content can have a public health benefit, serving as a valuable tool in diagnosing eye conditions. This is a marketing opportunity media companies should work with.

Network executives have been slow to embrace the TV Everywhere movement, largely because they want -- this is a shocker! -- as much money as they can grab from cable and satellite operators in rights fees. But, they are also wary of losing ad dollars, suggesting the lack of an adequate cross-platform measurement system will cost them. They may be right, but misinformed, too.