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The talk at the recent New TeeVeeLive conference I attended in San Francisco was about connected television, specifically Internet-connected and Internet-delivered video and data to the home TV screen.

Video is now the main driver of the Net. Choice and control--those "c's" again--reigned supreme in almost everyone's talk. See the highlights from this excellent conference.

By the way, Om Malik who runs GigaOM, and who ran the conference, did a terrific job. The sessions were 20 minutes each, which was great for those of us with short attention spans. There also were questions and answers from the very able reporters on the GigaOm staff, so we got the meat, and not the fluff or hype or pitch. Well done!

Here is some insight I gathered during the conference:

• Choice reigns, but fragmentation is pervasive.


• A stat I loved: It would take 200,000 years to watch the amount of video that crossed the Internet last month.


• Think of the concept of the smart TV. Like the cell phone, first all it did was make calls, now it's a PDA, GPS, computer, camera, and music player. Smart TVs will develop a lot like that.

I can't wait. That's why at CBS we are working with companies like Intel, Cisco, Samsung, Vizio, Sony, and more. We agree connected TV is going to play a big role in the evolution of the home screen.

Remember, it's not about what companies build, but how viewers at home watch. What the ultimate user experience is will determine what gets the most play. These are exciting issues, scary times.

The first week of the new television season is history, and CBS came out the winner. More viewers watched CBS premiere week than any other network, and CBS was the only network to be up over last year. A mighty accomplishment considering the extraordinary amount of competition in the media space. (Spoken like a true marketing guy?)

Now the race goes into its next phase: solidifying the hits and attracting more people to the other shows. We watch the week-to-week trends and see what direction the ratings are headed. Obviously, up is better! So we keep the marketing machine turning, pumping out on-air promotion, radio, and other messages. The good news for CBS is that our platform share of voice is the highest, because we are reaching more viewers, so our on-air promotion is more powerful than our competitors. That's a good thing.

This is the result of months of planning, strategy, execution, gamesmanship, and show biz. As I've tried to explain in previous posts, there are a lot of moving pieces to this game: creativity, media strategy, instinct, risk, and gut feeling. We have a terrific team of programmers, publicists, researchers, marketers, and such; they all strive to get the job done. Ultimately, the decision rests with the viewers. They vote each night, and we get the results the next day. That instant feedback is part of what makes this all so exciting.

Now that the season is underway, I will get back to my posts about the connected/digital home, the growth of home automation, and related topics. Thanks for watching, now stay tuned!

We've waited all summer and now it's almost here: on Monday, September 21, the new television season officially begins. "Officially" is when Nielsen says it begins, because in the ratings race, Nielsen is the scorekeeper. The TV networks will launch more than 40 new shows in the course of a few weeks. Fortunes and careers will be made and lost in that time. This is one of the only industries that launches so much new product all at once against its toughest competition. This doesn't happen with soft drinks, toothpaste, or detergent.

But that's also what makes show business so much fun! In May we announced our new shows and fall schedule. We developed marketing campaigns for each. We created on-air promotional spots, radio commercials, outdoor billboards, interactive ads, cable TV spots, and print ads. Beyond that, we even developed the world's first video-in-print ad!

Take a look at some of our promos for the new shows.

Year after year, the No. 1 place people find out about new TV shows is on television; seeing previews or promos, as we call them, is the best and most effective way. It's a sample that reaches the most people. That's good news for CBS, as we have had the biggest audiences this summer to sample our previews. And we have the Emmy Awards on the Sunday night right before the season starts. Nonetheless, as strong as on-air promotion is, we have to reach beyond our air to get to entertainment fans, so ads on radio, cable TV, outdoor billboards, bus sides, the Internet, and print all play a part.

Then there's the big intangible: word of mouth. "Buzz" is a critical element, and the recommendation of a trusted friend or a so-called "TV expert" can make or break a show. Word of mouth cannot be bought; it is created as a mixture of awareness, advertising, and conversation. It is certainly a very special brew. There's good buzz and there's bad buzz. Our philosophy is that the public is smart and they can smell a good show from a bad one. Show me a clip and I'll tell you, they say. So here we are inside the 20-yard line. It's the red zone for the TV networks, and our goal is to score with viewers.

At CBS we have four new shows, and we are returning our schedule of America's most watched programs. Now that it's back to school and after Labor Day, people's attention turns to the new season, so let the race begin!

When I started my career with CBS, the CBS Broadcast Center in New York was truly "Cronkite's house." The Cronkite Studio was a newsroom of its own--writers, producers, assistants, with Walter at his anchor desk as the Managing Editor. Every day, the whirl of activity in there grew steadily as airtime approached. As an aspiring broadcaster, I loved walking by the door and catching a quick look inside. It was intimidating, and always mesmerizing. Walter (Mr. Cronkite!) truly was a presence. I was lucky enough to be part of CBS News convention and election coverage, and some of the space mission coverage, when he held the anchor chair. They said he had "iron pants," because he could sit for so long. You could tell how much he loved it. And I was so inspired.

It's development time in the network television world. That's when we look at all the shows that are contenders for the fall schedule. Network TV is still the biggest dog in the media pack, and people are watching more TV than ever. To that end, there are many more choices.

So, how are they selected? Let me take you through the process at CBS (and it's essentially the same for all the big networks).

We have very talented programmers and development executives whose jobs are to work with writers, creators, and producers to look for material that would work on our network. Past successes can breed new ones (the CSI franchise, for example), or a hot producer or writer with a track record can present a new idea that fits. What is "fit?" It's a balance of what we need, such as a 10 p.m. drama or an 8 p.m. comedy, and also what would work with our broad audience target.

Last year, our programmers developed a show called "The Mentalist," whose lead actor, the appealing Simon Baker, was on the verge of major stardom. It came from Bruno Heller, the writer/executive producer of the HBO series "Rome." It was scheduled last fall against Fox's quirky show, "Fringe," which also has a great pedigree from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams. "The Mentalist's" audience target was right down the middle; it had great mainstream appeal to men and women of all ages. It was interesting, engaging, and clever. It became the industry's only bona fide hit of this season, and the No. 1 new show on all of network television!

Think of the TV development process like a giant funnel. Lots of ideas pour in and get discussed, and we hone down the list and buy scripts from those with the most promise. Then the very best scripts are given the go-ahead to make a pilot. That pilot gets cast, and ultimately produced, edited, and delivered to the network around this time of year.

Then we test every pilot at our state-of-the-art audience-testing facility in Las Vegas. That's where we get the best sampling of America's TV viewers who come pouring through Television City at the MGM Grand hotel.

I'll do a separate posting on TV marketing research, but suffice it to say, it's very cool. This is the place where America gets its say. The show may seem great to us, but what does America think? Caveat: research is a tool, not a rule; it's another piece of ammo used in our arsenal of decision making.

So, after that, our programmers and senior executives look at the pilots and we discuss the shows' strengths against our needs--how many hours we need to fill, what kind of shows work best, and what pieces fit well into the schedule puzzle. Plus, we discuss how well a show can be marketed to the viewing public, and what the competition is doing. Then we create a new fall schedule. On May 20, we will announce that schedule to the press and advertisers in a giant presentation at Carnegie Hall called the "Upfront." Why? Because most network TV ad time is sold up front, before the season, during early summer.

Let the games begin! You may not hear from me for a couple of weeks as we sort all this out, so stay tuned. I will try my best.

(Note: In the meantime, you can follow the fall development news and the industry Upfront reports on a great blog by a guy who really gets it, TVMoJoe by TV Week's Joe Adalian.)

For many years in the television marketing world the mantra about the future has been the three c's: choice, convenience, and control. Marketers believed consumers wanted more media choices, more convenience of viewing (remotes, VCR, DVR), and more control over their viewing.

Today, technology enables the balance of power to shift from the media provider to the consumer. It's now a world of infinite media choice, total convenience for consumers to view whatever they want whenever they want, and control so that no longer do they have to be in front of their TVs at 8 p.m. to see "Survivor" or they'll never see the episode again. Well, that's a big shift!

So where are the three c's now?

Choice. There may now be too many choices. After all, the more choices viewers have, the harder it is to decide. Navigation is key. (Look for my exciting navigation blog post coming soon! That's a promo.)

Convenience. Yes, TV viewing has become very convenient, but as simple as it is, to most consumers it's not simple enough.

Control. The consumer has complete control of the viewing experience, but even still, most viewing today is of live TV.

To those traditional three c's I have added four more c's (and if they were "c's-ons" I would be looking for the Frankie Valli connection here. Bear with me. I'm the marketing guy).

First is content. Above all, that is what everything revolves around. People don't watch technology. They watch content.

Then there's connectivity, and with connectivity comes convergence. They go hand in hand. People say they want multiplatform; they don't even know what that means, but bring it on. People are platform agnostic...or multifaith. They don't care about the delivery system. After all, people who get network TV over cable think CBS is cable because they get it on cable. It's transparent; they just want it quick, easy, and now!

Last, there is context. It's about how people live their lives and how they really watch and use media now. It's not all about the cool stuff we see here on CNET and Crave and at tech trade shows and in industry e-mails. That's for another day.

Confusing? (The eighth "C"?) You bet, and that probably means career security for media marketers. Stay tuned!

(Credit: John Filo/CBS)

For marketers of television programming, after the TV itself, what's the next most important home entertainment device? The remote control. Every day and night we literally fight for the viewers' "share of thumb!" Think about it.

The remote control device has gone through many changes. My first remote control was my younger brother, Peter. "Louder, please!" I would command, and Peter would get up and adjust the volume. Same for channel up and down. One could say it was actually voice-activated.

Today, Peter has his own remote. From a simple up, down, left, right, and select, one can operate cable, satellite, DVR, guides, and so on. The remote has put viewers in the driver's seat: they can scan, surf, and select as fast as they can press the button. Simple as that sounds, it's still not simple enough. Many cable companies report they still get the majority of their customer service calls on how to operate the remotes. That's a problem.

At a recent TV of Tomorrow conference, a panel of program guide designers waxed on about a terrific new remote with a keyboard and some other bells and whistles. One exec from a large cable company said he didn't think today's remote is simple enough. At a conference like this or on a site like CNET, it's often populated by early adopters, engineers and designers, but in the real world, people want it easy and simple. And ultimately, that's what the marketers of programming want, too. We want it to be an easy find. We don't want people to give up the search.

Easy navigation is the key. As technology brings us more and more choices, it also has created a game of "high-tech hide and seek" between an ever-growing amount of programming and a navigation-challenged viewing public. So we look at all the ways people navigate and what they do when they turn on their sets. We work back from that behavior and try to see what triggers their media decision-making. Look for those elements in an upcoming column. Until then: keep your thumb on CNET TV and CBS.

As the marketing guy at CBS, it's my job to get people to watch our programs. Our department is like an ad agency, with CBS shows as the clients--everyone from "60 Minutes" to Letterman, to "CSI" and the NFL. Each day, our focus is on how people find out what's on television and how to get them to watch, which is an increasingly difficult task given the huge volume of content that's available and the plethora of ways people are consuming it.

George Schweitzer, CBS chief marketing officer.

(Credit: John Filo/CBS)

Sometimes my job is hard to explain. When my kids were young and they said I "did marketing for CBS," they thought I went to the grocery store each day and shopped for the CBS stars (which was close to the truth sometimes). Once at a school event, a parent came up to me and said, "We get all our drugs from you." Turns out her son insisted I worked at CVS. To third-graders, that was a more relevant brand than CBS.

It was always my dream to work at CBS. I started as a desk assistant, or "gofer," working midnight to 8 a.m., Wednesday through Sunday. It was hell on the social life, but it was heaven for the opportunity to learn everything about the business and to make contacts.

I swelled with pride when I walked into the building, thinking of all the industry legends who were there, past and present. I worked my way through jobs in production and operations and then into marketing, advertising, and promotion. I love my job and the people I work with.

For recreation, I don't fish, golf, or hunt. I am a gym rat, though, and I watch a lot of sports on TV. Above all, I am a technology junkie--particularly for the digital/connected home. I pump movies, music, television shows, and photos through an array of servers and screens. My hobby is home automation, integrating entertainment as well as lights, security, heating and air, sprinklers, energy management, and all sorts of gizmos. I also collect old technology: radios, TVs, telephones, record players, typewriters, and more; anything that was considered a disruptive technology is fair game. It's fun and instructive to learn from the not-so-distant past. After all, Moore's Law practically guarantees that the leading-edge products of today, such as flat-panel TVs or touch-screen iPods, will be relics in a few short years.

So, why have I decided to write a blog and why should you read it? Because of my more than 30 years spent working at CBS and my preoccupation with technology, I am in a unique position to explain how technology is reshaping the TV industry and the home. This blog is going to cover experiences from the intensely competitive world of network TV marketing to the ever-expanding world of the digital home, and all the new and exciting things we can use to enhance our homes, our jobs, and our lifestyles. Stay tuned!