Members of Congress often push legislation that has wide appeal to consumers, but is unlikely to pass. It can be an easy way to gain some favorability points. Which is surely what Arizona Sen. John McCain is seeking with a bill looking to usher in a la carte pricing for cable channels.

A group of agency executives held a gathering in Manhattan on Thursday with Topic A the ongoing upfront. They didn't give away their strategies, but authored compelling conversation nonetheless about the market and a range of other topics. Among them: programmatic buying, branded content and Vine as a fruitful ad platform.

It could be that so-called advanced advertising will never fulfill its promise. That hardly means failure. Success metrics might be widespread. An increasing number of advertisers might use the new technologies and tout the results. But maybe the potential appears so ripe that expectations have gotten out of control - the promise might need recalibration.

The anti-Nielsen crusaders will likely be marginalized again. Those who accuse it of greedy, monopolistic activity and hoped it would lose a crucial round appear headed for a defeat. Nielsen is primed to emerge as the dominant currency provider in online measurement.

The IRS needs some PR help. While that carries more urgency now, it could have been written just about any time during the agency's lifespan, which dates back to the 1860s. The Internal Revenue Service has an inherent image problem. Plain and simple: it takes money out of people's pockets. Congress decides how much, but the IRS is the address on the bills. How to make the agency appear more approachable and less robotic? Reality TV.

By any standard, Rentrak has done an extraordinary job over the past few years building and rolling out its local TV measurement service. Since Nielsen rarely faces notable competition, Rentrak has authored a compelling narrative about whether it would manifest as a significant challenger.

Netflix is pursuing a clever marketing tactic with its original series: don't let facts define the message. By refusing to release specifics on viewership, everything meets expectations. There are no flops.

For networks, Tuesday may have come a month too late. Several promising economic indicators were released, the kind that could persuade marketers to put down more in the fledgling upfront. Trouble is, their budgets are likely already formulated.

TiVo has a slew of initiatives in play looking to take advantage of changing consumer behavior and move beyond its early image as an ad-skipping facilitator. It's launched functionality allowing users to watch live, on-demand and recorded content on tablets throughout the home. It recently purchased TRA, an ad measurement business. And, last year, brought Tim Tebow on as an endorser. Tara Maitra joined TiVo in late 2005 and has helped it evolve. The senior vice president of content spoke with MediaPost about how 2013 is shaping up and other matters.

For all those waiting for the promise of interactive TV advertising to be fulfilled, shift focus from the remote control to the mobile device. Growth is more likely to come from second-screen behavior than finding a way to get people to punch buttons on the traditional channel changer. Twitter and Shazam certainly elevated the possibilities with announcements Thursday.