An analyst's report Monday took a pretty big machete to projected ad growth at Viacom with the recent significant ratings drops at Nickelodeon. No one is quite sure why the kids' network is struggling so much in the viewership tallies. Increased consumption on digital platforms might be one reason, while aging programming could be another. If more kids watching on parents' smartphones and tablets is a major contributor, a new handheld DVR for preschoolers from Fisher-Price could further frustrate those disheartened with the growing ubiquity of video content available to kids.

Top sports leagues have an extraordinary business model going, notably the NFL. How many other businesses can charge increasingly higher fees (fortunes) to customers, who would be content just to break even - even stomach a loss? Yet, the money networks have committed to acquire rights will prove worth it, if for no other reason than ensuring their leadership into the 2020s.

So TV is on a continual revolutionary path? Changes in how people consume it are coming so swiftly, so unexpectedly that network and advertising executives would be wise to apportion at least an hour a day just to stay on top of things, right? Maybe not. The pace of upheaval now seems to be reaching some stasis. As contrary as it may seem, the remarkable transformation -- starting with ABC making shows available on iTunes in late 2005; then moving through the YouTube and Netflix booms; and now with ESPN running spots showing how a cowboy can watch its networks …

It's tough to say what's harder to understand: Alec Baldwin's suit of armor or a New York super-market chain's indecisiveness. Baldwin seems as if he could care less about public opinion and keeps thriving, while Wegmans cares a lot and today looks foolish. What is it about Baldwin that allows him to engage in behavior that would damage some Hollywood standouts and yet escape with barely a prolonged PR scratch? Whatever the reason, the public has once again come to his defense. So much so that it has prompted very public forgiveness and unbridled appreciation from Wegmans. And the growing …

In the continuum of TV advertising, 2011 should be remembered as the year that quieted doubters about the medium's long-term prospects. Its strength should only continue for at least the next decade. DVR ad-skipping will keep growing, as will cord-cutting. But helping drive the business is its role alongside social and digital media. One media buyer spoke of TV as a pitcher and digital platforms as a catcher. Ad guru John Hegarty has offered up a "Super Bowl to super-social" strategy that gives voice to that growing philosophy.