All around auto marketers are displaying plenty of in showing their metal. And a resurgence there has network executives ecstatic. A report this week augured robust spending not just this year, but into 2013. Along that road, the Moody's forecast suggested the category might drive a soaring upfront market. Moody's bullishness followed an exceedingly favorable profile Sunday on "60 Minutes" about Chrysler's seemingly humble, but highly effective chief Sergio Marchionne. Yet, the CBS show at least partly turned the piece into a metaphor about the resurrected domestic car business, where digital marketing is gaining steam, but propelled by TV.

The Dallas Mavericks' Mark Cuban is supposed to be the people's owner. He's supposed to be more concerned with their interests than his bottom line. He's supposed to realize that it's difficult enough to watch the NBA on TV without seeing a corporate logo at any moment, so there's no need to make it impossible. Alas, he's in favor of selling sponsorships on jerseys if the price is right. It stands to reason if Cuban falls, they'll all fall.

It's a cool time for research-speak. There seems to be an arms race to coin the most lasting description of a new field. CBS's David Poltrack is championing "volumetrics," while PrecisionDemand, the measurement firm now headed by Jon Mandel, offers up "buyometric portraits." Albeit in a different realm, NBCU now has another moniker: "Simus." Pronounced Cy-muss, it's short for simultaneous media usage. For the 2010 Olympics, NBCU found 32% of people took in its coverage on more than one platform simultaneously -- at least once. For this summer's London Olympics as device multi-tasking balloons, it wants to delve into it …

Oh, those elites occupying the New York-Los Angeles axis, who know what Kansas City or Indianapolis look like only through a brief glance outside a plane window. How disconnected they are from the folks living in those fine communities who drive much of this country's underappreciated businesses - and watch TV. Yes, enough TV to boost ratings that make it possible for the elites to own condos in SoHo and homes on Laurel Canyon. In a nod to the burgeoning wisdom that a golden age of TV drama is emerging, New York magazine's Vulture section has been conducting a March …

The phrase "content is king" should be retired. Not because it is trite and hackneyed, but it is inaccurate. It no longer characterizes the media ecosystem properly. Presumably, kings have limits to their power. "Content is omnipotent" is a more appropriate description. Be it Apple or Twitter, as exquisite and beloved as their offerings may be, neither reaches their current status without TV shows and Web sites and user-generated stuff. The distribution mechanism simply is in the back seat, a plush one in a Bentley for some, but still not driving.

Much of the industry's future is dependent on an advertiser knowing how many people watch its ad on what screen. So, entities from Arbitron to Ernst & Young are involved at different stages in a process that could yield an industry standard for a consistent screen-to-screen viewing metric. This week, GroupM and Nielsen jointly announced they would work together to develop "cross-platform campaign ratings," which would yield reach and frequency for both TV and Internet viewing. But, how valuable is that if all ad impressions aren't equal? If an apples-to-apples comparison from screen to screen is rotten, is that more …

While it's hard to refer to the U.S. TV business as a newcomer to globalization, clearly it is beginning to appreciate the opportunities more than ever. It will be a while before an NBCUniversal refers to itself in the vein of Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent, who calls his company a global business headquartered in Atlanta, but selling increasingly coveted programming overseas seems an awful nice hedge should the TV ad market notably lose force domestically. Consumer behavior is working in NBCU's favor and its peers as a growing middle class from Bangalore to Beijing has more time to watch TV. …

At least for the moment, it's hard to even call 3D TV a fad. For that implies, a critical mass of consumers opted to give it a whirl before either they lost interest or hardly anyone followed them in trying it out. But, there isn't much evidence that's even happened. One hint is the daily churn of the survey-spin complex. It seems to have been a while since a press release has come out touting how many people will have a 3D set hooked up by, say, 2017. Or, one plugging results of an online survey showing some 98.9% of …

No shocker here: There appears to be a massive gulf between what Washington mandarins think and you and your neighbors do. Refreshingly, CNN's Erin Burnett condemned politicos of both sides unwilling to criticize Rush Limbaugh and Bill Maher for recent offensive comments about women. But Mindshare research shows even as Washington insiders battle, there is evidence bi-partisanship exists elsewhere.

Sure, Denver Broncos fans are thrilled today with news that arguably the greatest quarterback of all time is set to join their team this fall. No doubt, there's also been some serious whooping it up at CBS, where the coming Peyton Manning signing is momentous. Manning's return -- one of the most compelling stories in the NFL this coming season -- will play out mostly on CBS each Sunday. The company also owns KCNC-TV in Denver, which will also benefit from carrying the future Hall of Famer's games.