TVSquad

It was back to school after the Jericho presentation with a look at CBS Interactive/CBS Audience Network Presentation and Q&A.

Remember what I said about how attending the cable and PBS portion of TCA is like taking all those science and humanity classes during your first two years of college -- and the network portion of TCA is like all the fun courses in your major?

Well, today, CBS threw us a few calculus lessons.

Quincy Smith, president, CBS interactive, and Patrick Kean, executive vice president chief, spoke to the press on the future of how CBS content will be programmed, marketed and experienced online. The Eye network is teaming up with 24 Internet distribution partners (including AOL) in order to provide online content.

I'd continue to explain more about what all this means for TV viewers, but I'd probably end up sounding like a frustrated Friends character when he/she would say, "You're talking, but all I keep hearing is blah, blah, blah (new platforms), blah, blah, blah, (content alert), blah, blah, blah..."

Why are TV viewers going to be alerted on their cell phones about programs? What happened to the days of looking at the TV listings in the Sunday paper and circling a few shows that you wanted to see and setting your VCR?

They're all pretty much gone -- and they ain't coming back.

A smart colleague of mine recently put it this way: "For the first time, viewers truly have the power to watch what they want and when -- and they're taking it away from the networks. Viewers -- especially younger ones -- are no longer willing to be told what to watch, when to watch or even how to watch. The genie's out of the bottle and there's no way to get it back inside. Eventually, we'll be able to choose our own programming line-ups."

How will the networks counter this to make sure viewers have the most access to their programs? Stay tuned.

A Survivor: China-themed lunch was next. We had tasty standard Chinese food and specially made fortune cookies with CBS-themed fortunes like "Cane -- it's more than a walking stick."

My side. My side.

Seriously, though, it was a nice change because we're getting close to two weeks straight of this tour and the food can't help but taste a little repetitive.

Then, it was back to the International Ballroom for a panel on Power of 10. That show's host, Drew Carey, may or may not end up as host of The Price is Right, by the way. People say Bob Barker's not replaceable. But I remember one time when I was a CBS page and had to help tell 300+ people that taping was being canceled because Bob wasn't coming in that day, more than one of them yelled out, "Let [announcer] Rod [Roddy] do it! I want to win a new car!"

Next up, back to school (again) for a panel with David Poltrack, CBS' chief research officer, on "Television in the 21st Century, 'To Date' and Tomorrow." We're provided with a 27 page booklet filled with graphs and pie charts on "CBS Video Market Segmentation" and "Time Spent Study: TV Viewing" vs. "Time Spent: Internet Usage."

Did you know that in 2006 34% of TV viewers watched an episode of a TV program on the net and that in 2007 that number jumped to 45%? (And the year isn't even over yet.)

Again, it's all changing folks. Stay tuned.

The last panel of the day was Viva Laughlin, a show that we may watch on TV or on the Internet. Who knows?

Hugh Jackman and Melanie Griffith are listed as recurring in the cast, but alas, neither of them are present. Executive producer Bob Lowry says that Jackman will make some appearances, but, you know, he's got that busy movie career and all.

"It all depends on his availability," Lowry adds.

Music will be utilized in this show to help explain something about a character that viewers didn't know before.

"[But] we're not a musical because nobody ever bursts into song," clarifies star Lloyd Owen, who plays Ripley.

And some of the kids in Kid Nation cry, but the show has no "cry babies." Got it.

One critic suggests that Ripley, whose sole goal is to run a casino in Laughlin, Nevada, would never play the roulette wheel because he's a "real gambler."

"That's what I love about Ripley," counters Owen. "He would do that."

I can't argue that logic -- on any platform.

Next up, the CBS all stars party, where I'm going to personally apologize to every cast member of How I Met Your Mother that I can find for missing yesterday's (informal) panel.