Craig Ferguson to step down. Netflix and Verizon make deal.

After the coffee. Before the first day of the cable show.

The Skinny: The big shots of the cable industry are in town for the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn’s annual convention so I’ll be stuck at the convention center for the next few days. Rough life, I know. Today’s headlines include Craig Ferguson exiting his CBS talk show and Yahoo detailing its efforts to get into the original content business.

Daily Dose: Have Clipper owner Donald Sterling’s alleged remarks damaged the value of the team’s TV rights? The team’s current contract with Fox’s Prime Ticket still has another two seasons to go and there was already speculation that Time Warner Cable, which has the Lakers and distributes the Dodgers, would make a run for the Clippers as well. Advertisers are already exiting the team and if fans turn their back as well, the team’s TV rights could take a hit. Of course, if Sterling opts to sell the Clippers and Magic Johnson and Guggenheim buy the team, they already own SportsNet LA and could put the team there.

Good night and good luck. Craig Ferguson, host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS said Monday that he will exit the program at the end of the year after 10 years. The move was not totally unexpected as CBS executives had been dropping hints that David Letterman’s slot might not be the only one it has to fill. On his show Monday, Ferguson indicated he first considered leaving two years ago, but opted to sign one more contract. More on Ferguson’s exit from the Los Angeles Times, Vulture and Hollywood Reporter

Vanishing act. There is still no official reason provided for the removal of four U.S. TV shows -- “The Big Bang Theory,” “The Good Wife,” “NCIS” and “The Practice” -- from websites in China. Some speculate there were issues with the content, but a more likely scenario is that the shows were becoming too popular and seen as a threat to homegrown content. The move has everyone in Hollywood worried that a new potential revenue stream will dry up before it ever really gets a chance to flow. China is a huge but difficult market to crack as the government there is very restrictive when it comes to content from the outside. More from the Los Angeles Times.

Welcome to the big time. Yahoo is again throwing its hat into the entertainment ring with two new sitcoms, including one from producer Paul Feig. The Web portal made the announcement in a presentation to advertisers in New York on Monday and comes not long after an agreement with Katie Couric to provide content. The question, of course, will be whether Yahoo can come up with anything strong enough to actually compete in an already crowded environment and if they have the stomach for the cost of failure that is associated with entertainment. Coverage from the New York Times.

Pay to play. Just a couple months after striking a deal with Comcast to pay fees to ensure its content flows smoothly through the broadband provider’s pipes, Netflix has struck a similar deal with Verizon. Netflix has previously grumbled about the idea of paying extra, while broadband providers note that such business arrangements are fair given the amount of traffic the streaming service accounts for every day. Details on the agreement from the Wall Street Journal.

Not so fast. Univision President Randy Falco expressed concern about Comcast acquiring Time Warner Cable, suggesting his own company and Spanish TV viewers may suffer. Comcast owns Univision rival Telemundo, and Falco hinted that Comcast would favor its own content, noting that the cable giant doesn’t carry Univision’s sports channel. More on Falco’s remarks from Reuters.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Robert Lloyd on the new USA network sitcom “Playing House.” Tom Brokaw, who long ago was an regular presence on KNBC-TV Los Angeles, is getting a building named after him by the station.

Follow me on Twitter for all the absurdities of life. @JBFlint.

For the record: A previous version of this column incorrectly said the Clippers TV deal with Prime Ticket had one more season to run. It has two more seasons.