Brian Williams, Bob Simon, Jon Stewart and Hallmark’s Upfront Shocker

Bob Simon, via a CBS News career that lasted decades, went from being a reporter on the scene of global conflicts to a correspondent for any subject in any season. What a shame that a horrific car accident last Wednesday night brought Simon and his outstanding work to an end. As long as journalists inspired by Simon pursue their craft and illuminate our world for the better, his legacy will endure.

To all the pundits out there believing The Daily Show is done for when Jon Stewart departs later this year, eat your words. Remember way back when Stewart assumed the role 17 years ago from original host Craig Kilborn? Stewart didn't get much in the way of well-wishing when he started out. Just look at where he is now! Give whoever Comedy Central picks for the next host some time to maneuver Daily's next iteration.

Nationwide Insurance gets an early vote for gut call of 2015 to make its now-celebrated/controversial "Dead Kid" message, then run it over TV's annual big top of tops, the Super Bowl. They knew it would upset a lot of people. However, Nationwide saw the bigger challenge -- reduce the biggest cause of childhood death in this nation, namely preventable accidents -- and let that be their guide. How many times have we seen or read news reports of a child killed from accidentally setting a fire, or pulling the trigger of a gun, or something else that would not have happened if parents made their living environment safer? If we see more kids growing to full adulthood because actions were taken, all the grief Nationwide picked up the last few weeks will have been worth it. My only criticism: Nationwide didn't run their message in NBC Universo's live Spanish-language Super Bowl presentation.

Our second stunning Upfront development this month comes from Hallmark Channels and parent company Crown Media Family Networks. In quick order after Discovery Communications canned its annual early April spectacle ( the subject of my last MediaBizBloggers column ) Hallmark did an about-face and dropped its annual New York press lunch after "Save the Date" invites for the mid-March event had already been e-mailed. This is yet another head-turning call, given Hallmark earns nice kudos for its lunch, and the timing for this one was perfect. Hallmark's coming off its best holiday movie season yet (some originals earned record viewership of five million-plus) and The Good Witch, its newest original series, begins later this month. Like Discovery, Hallmark risks having its future original programming strategy fall off the public's radar.

Until the next time, stay well and stay tuned!