If a magazine publisher entered the genre today, it might be met with a collective: "Are you joking? You must have some cash to burn." 'TV Guide' is turning 60 next week, but while its circulation remains over 2 million a week, it has nowhere near the influence it once did. So, there's no reason to think TV listings magazines are a growth area in the U.S. But apparently, it's the opposite in the U.K. Guess no one over there has heard of the Internet?

What an utter bummer that the Chicago Bulls ended the Miami Heat's effort to break the NBA's record for longest winning streak on Wednesday. For many casual fans, it had to be the first time in years that the endless NBA regular season piqued their interest. In addition to fans, networks had to be dispirited as well. TNT has the Miami-New York game April 2, where the Heat would have gone for a 31st straight win if the winning streak had continued.

AT&T has a considerable marketing budget and operates in an exceedingly competitive category. The fact that it has chosen to heavy up on broadcast TV is just one more example of the continued strength of the medium. So the recent discussion about the ad market losing some pop that may have a runoff effect on the upfront market seems not just premature, but misguided.

There's something to be said for DirecTV's confidence in wading into the clutter. Over the next month-and-a-half, there are so many upfront and NewFront events, a perfect attendance record would probably mean major job failure. But DirecTV thinks it has a compelling message with its addressable advertising opportunities.

Compared to many of Google's latest initiatives, delivering wires into homes would seem to be a lot more capital-intensive. But Google is up to something with its fledgling broadband-TV access business in the Kansas City area. Since no one outside Mountain View knows the end game (Google might not yet either), Bernstein Research is probably as good a source to turn to as any for insight.

Lawyers for Aereo went to court this week seeking sensitive documents from Big Media ranging from carriage agreements to NBCUniversal's Olympic research to contracts with Netflix. The discovery hearing came as Aereo preps its defense before a likely trial facing off against broadcast entities charging it with copyright infringement, leading to irreparable harm.

The debate over how much national TV advertising can help a marketer's VIBE will continue in perpetuity. But an argument could be made it has a significant impact. WPP marketing firm Added Value has released its annual Cultural Traction report based on a survey looking to determine whether a brand is considered to be visionary, inspiring, bold and exciting (VIBE). In the U.S., Apple leads, followed by Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Sony.

A few years ago when CBS trailed competitors in the 18-to-49 demographic, the pitch rang rather hollow. Now, though, as the network is a stronger player in the advertiser-coveted demo, its work to alter the conversation around audience targeting have more heft.

Attendees working for TV networks had to feel a sense of relief Monday following a jarring kick-off to an advertising research event. How nice to be in their business where global consumers seem to covet their content more and more - albeit if DVRs and online streaming may be causing some disruption in the U.S. Contrast that to big marketers and government institutions. Listening to J. Walker Smith, things are scary across the globe. Both are struggling to fend off anger from a class of people tabbed the "global enraged," a group still smarting from the economic downturn and overcome …

There was a frisson last week about Rupert Murdoch's tip of the hat to CNN's evolution under new head Jeff Zucker. The compliments - touching on the increased energy - didn't betray any fear that CNN would pose much of a ratings challenge to Fox News anytime soon. What about CNN's future online, though? At some point after Zucker feels he has the right talent and staffers share - or at least adhere to - his vision, he'll likely turn his attention to CNN's Web page. Wow, could CNN.com use help. Where to start? Nothing short of a redesign and …