APRIL 17: Solid piece from Advertising Age today  about why advanced/targeted advertising over television remains only a fractional contributor to the $60 billion U.S. TV ad market. Don't blame the technology, notes writer Matt Creamer. Instead, it's a matter of business processes and adjustments. Says Time Warner Cable advanced ad strategist Chris Faw: If we came out now and said all 14 million of our set-top boxes are addressable, what would they say on Madison Avenue? 'How do I write that campaign?' 'How do I rate that?' 'How do you charge me for it?'"

APRIL 11: BlackArrow added an advertisement-routing capability to its dynamic VOD ad platform, making it possible for cable operators to send national and local ad avails to different Ad Decision Services so that they can get the right VOD commercial to the right playout geography. The BlackArrow Ad Router works with BlackArrow's own campaign suite or with third-party ad systems to control the fulfillment of VOD advertising instructions. Routing national and local commercials across a dizzying combination of programs and geographies is a key requirement for the emerging dynamic VOD advertising category. Also important is the ability to manage the interplay of commercial time allocation between local cable systems and national networks. BlackArrow says its new Ad Router, in combination with the company's Business Suite, enables those business rules and affiliate agreements to work across new delivery platforms such as dynamic VOD insertion. Here's the press release.

APRIL 10: Nice take from Campaigns & Elections  magazine about the rising role of cable advertising in the political ad category. Among the quotes: “Unlike a few cycles ago, cable is now seen as a viable tool to be used,” said Brian Walsh, president of the American Action Network, a Super PAC that backs Republican candidates.