• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 21, 2012

This could be my last communique -- at least according to the Mayans.

If that’s the case, no worries. The best part is that all television will have wiped the slate clean in more ways than one.

Everything gets a new start in the new world -- no charter advertising deals, no pre-existing below-market CPM for long-time advertisers, no long-time costly and unproductive network deals for producers who lost their way a long time ago, and no big media

When the lights and electricity went out and the world was about to end, if you were watching any time-shifted episode of "Revolution," you were probably thinking, "This is the greatest show in the history of television."

If you were watching "The Big Bang Theory," you might have been thinking that you should have paid closer attention to what those goofy guys were saying, scientifically speaking.

If you were watching "Survivor" -- and indeed, somehow the Mayan prediction of Dec. 21, 2012 as the end-of-the-world didn't quite reach your neighborhood yet – perhaps you were thinking you should have paid attention to how to build a hut, catch a fish with your hands, or know which condiment goes well with what bug.

If you were watching any of the cable news networks, you were probably thinking just before the end:, "Now, why was I wasting all this time about the goings-on in Washington?"

If you were watching a football game, you were probably thinking: "I should have worried less about the small issues in life and more about beating a 'cover two' defense -- or how to apply 'eye black' below my eyes."

If you were watching a show on HGTV, you were probably thinking: "Why didn't I feng shui the living room and the bedroom?”

But maybe, with the world ending, you weren't watching TV.  Maybe you were driving your car, reading a book, making dinner, working out on a treadmill, or talking with your significant other. In which case, TV was the furthest thing from your mind when the world ended.