Americans are gluing themselves to the screen more and more. That includes TV, Internet, and Mobile. According to research from Nielsen, as of the third quarter 2008, the average person in the U.S. watched approximately 142 hours of TV in one month.  In addition, people who used the Internet were online 27 hours a month, and people who used a mobile phone spent 3 hours a month watching mobile video.

As more television makes the transition to the Internet, Google is doing its part to bring a little of the Internet back to television. It is doing so through a newly signed deal with NBC Universal (NBCU) in a move to help NBCU attract "new kinds" of advertisers.

More signs that online reputation management is becoming mainstream? Mainstream media, namely ABC News, decides to take a look at the importance of managing your Google reputation.

OK, so the headline is admittedly a bit sensational, but it got you reading, didn’t it? I’ve been meaning to share some observations and thoughts on the changing media landscape for a while, but just haven’t gotten around to it. Until now.

The technical term for what Microsoft has achieved in search (at least in comparison to Google) is "squat."  So the Redmond-based corporation seems to be attacking the giant in one of its more vulnerable spots – television advertising – with the acquisition of a company called Navic Networks.

The day has yet to arrive when people prefer watching videos on computer screens instead of gigantic plasmas.  A shift in viewing patterns is occurring, though, according to the latest numbers from Ipsos MediaCT.

At least a couple pieces of evidence and another few rumors have suggested that Google TV Ads is struggling.  Yet with the introduction of Analytics reports on the matter, it seems Google is willing to let people see for themselves.

A new initiative from Warner Bros. Television seeks an audience, and advertising revenue, from online broadcasts.

If you watched the lead-in to "My Name is Earl" last night, you know that (a) Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC Universal, isn’t terribly funny, and (b) his network is pushing online video.  But even with Zucker’s "The Office"-gone-bad awkwardness, it seems the act of watching television online is becoming more popular.

Sparks fly over copyright at Tech Policy Summit | Lawgarithms | ZDNet.com Denise Howell has an informative write up on a copyright debate held last week at the Tech Policy Summit in Hollywood.

Participants in the debate included TiVo VP and general counsel Matt Zinn, Executive Director of the Copyright Alliance Patrick Ross, Fred von Lohman from the EFF and moderator Doug Lichtman of UCLA Law School.

Two things I found interesting in the article.

Search advertising company Google wants to help its television brethren by bringing ads to local TV markets.

Videos can lose a lot when they’re presented on a small screen.  Try to picture the stunning landscapes in "The Lord of the Rings," or the gargantuan creature in "The Mist," on a 17-inch computer monitor, for example.  But that apparently continues to be the way most people watch online content.

If you ask us, something that even Google may fear shouldn’t be called "Project Canoe."  No one at Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, or Time Warner Cable stopped by, however, and so their ad-related project is (for the time being) named after a small, motor-less boat.

Remember the 1982 tune "TV Party"?  Black Flag saw the humor in television addiction, but on February 18th, 2009, some people could be singing the song’s last few stanzas without a hint of sarcasm.  Less than a year is left before the switch from analog to digital signals takes place, and ten percent of American households remain unprepared.

If you have anything to do with iVillage, now might be a good time to back away.  Last week, we received word that 13 employees had been laid off.  Fresh reports indicate that the "In the Loop With iVillage" show has been canceled.

At some point you will have to concede that the YouTube video of a hippo singing will be better than anything that’s on the 200 gazillion cable or satellite TV channels. And, when you come to that realization, Google and Panasonic will be there to fill the void.

Sliding attention isn’t only a problem for newspapers, as ABC, CBS, and NBC all saw viewership decline through 2007.

The Writers Guild of America strike has been an interesting debacle to watch, complete with a host of issues the public might not have thought of before. The inevitable convergence of the Internet and TV is one of them; the continued homogenization of American culture is another.