NBC late-night executive shuffle; Paul Telegdy replaces chief

Rick Ludwin, the NBC executive who oversaw two of the biggest seismic shifts in late-night television, is stepping down.

NBC announced Thursday that it had promoted Paul Telegdy -- a former BBC America executive who nurtured NBC's biggest hit of the year, "The Voice" -- to the newly created position of president of alternative and late-night programming. 

The move continues NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt's dramatic management shake-up of the peacock network since joining the company in January.

“Paul is an exemplary executive who has tremendous creative vision in the area of unscripted programming, which makes him perfect for this expanded role,” Greenblatt said in a statement. He credited Telegdy with the continued ratings success of such unscripted programs as "The Voice,"  "America’s Got Talent," "The Biggest Loser"  and "Celebrity Apprentice."

Ludwin, who has been an NBC executive for 31 years, will transition from his current position overseeing late night to becoming a consultant for NBC. 

Ludwin was running the late-night block in 1993 when NBC picked Jay Leno over David Letterman to become host of the storied "The Tonight Show" when Johnny Carson retired. It was a monumental shift that divided the network's executives because many backed Letterman (who defected to CBS).

Ultimately, the move paid off.

Two of the more recent late-night switches have proved more treacherous. Conan O'Brien's tenure succeeding Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" lasted just seven months. Leno moved to an ill-fated 10 p.m. variety show that also bombed, and NBC pulled him back to late night to lift the sagging ratings there, prompting O'Brien to leave the network. Leno's contract with NBC extends another two years.

There has been one sunny spot. NBC's late-night host Jimmy Fallon has scored high marks with critics and viewers.

"I couldn't have asked for or imagined a more rewarding job than the one I've had at NBC,” Ludwin said in the NBC statement. “To have been a part of TV history with ‘Seinfeld,’ our late-night franchises, ‘Saturday Night Live’ and with all our producers, writers and talent has been unbelievable. Since I was a kid it was a dream of mine to work at NBC. I got to do it and continue to be grateful."

Before joining NBC, Telegdy, 40, was executive vice president of sales, content and production for BBC Worldwide America. While working at BBC Productions in Los Angeles, he helped develop "Dancing with the Stars," which has become one of television's biggest hits.

He graduated with honors from the University of London with a degree in Korean and Japanese.

-- Meg James

Photo of Paul Telegdy / Credit:  NBC

NBC Universal Chief Jeff Zucker resigns

NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said Friday that he would be stepping down as soon as the merger between Comcast and NBC Universal was completed, which is expected later this year.

Zucker made the announcement to his staff in New York on Friday morning, and it was first reported by the New York Times. The move was not entirely unexpected because Comcast, which will own the majority stake of the combined entity, has made it clear that Comcast Chief Operating Officer Steve Burke would be in charge of NBC Universal. The timing of the announcement, however, was sooner than most people had figured.

Behind the scenes for the last few weeks, Zucker and his bosses at General Electric Co., which currently owns NBC Universal, have been tussling over when Burke would unveil his plans for a new organizational structure -- which presumably would not include Zucker.

Zucker, who rose to prominence as the youngest-ever executive producer of the "Today" show and spent four years running the company's entertainment operation in Burbank, took over the entire company in 2007. 

It was a tumultuous reign. Although Zucker energized the company, moved NBC Universal into the digital age and was a key architect of the online video website Hulu, he badly misfired by hiring an inexperienced independent TV producer, Ben Silverman, to be in charge of programming for the NBC network.

His risky and well-publicized move to shift "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno to a 10 p.m. program severely damaged NBC's prime-time schedule and seriously affected the finances of NBC affiliate TV stations, which rely on the late local news for much of their revenue.

Earlier this year, Zucker's plan to move Leno back to late night infuriated Conan O'Brien, who had been given the "Tonight Show," and led to a protracted separation that played out like a soap opera on late-night TV.  

Zucker sent this e-mail to his staff:

Well, the time has come. This time, to tell you a little news about me.

When Comcast assumes control of NBC Universal, I will leave the company.

It has not been an easy or simple decision. I have spent my entire adult life here, more than 24 years. This is the only place I have ever worked. The only professional thing I have ever known. I met my wife here, enjoyed the birth of our four children in that time, worked in almost every division of the company. And forged relationships, both professional and personal, that will last a lifetime.

I remember, vividly, the first day I came to work here in August, 1986. I walked to work at 30 Rockefeller Plaza that day; it was humid and my shirt was soaking by the time I got there. In the years since, I have enjoyed nothing but sheer pleasure in having the names NBC and Universal on my business cards. Sure, there have been ups and downs in the last quarter century. But when I step back, and think about what we've been through, I feel nothing but pride and joy. It has been a great run and I've been incredibly fortunate.

Now, it is clear to me that this is the right decision for me and for the company. Comcast will be a great new steward, just as GE has been, and they deserve the chance to implement their own vision.

I am proud that they will inherit a company in very good shape, with almost every one of our divisions enjoying their best year ever. The current strength of the company is a tribute to every one of you and the terrific leadership team that is in place.

We'll talk more about the shape of the company in the months ahead. For now, I just wanted you to know my plans. I won't be going anywhere until the day the deal closes, and that day is still months away. There is plenty left to do, and we have an obligation to each other to maintain what we have already built. I will continue to approach everything we do with the long-term interest of the company in mind, just as I always have; I know no other way.

I don't yet know what my future will bring. I've spent the last 24 years thinking only about NBC Universal, and never contemplated anything else. I haven't even begun to think about the next chapter. But I wanted to be honest with you about this news as soon as I could.

I love NBC Universal. And always will. And I am grateful to each of you.

My most heartfelt thanks.

Jeff

 

-- Meg James

Photo: Jeff Zucker. Credit: Justin Lane/EPA. 

The Morning Fix: Conan hits the TBS stage! Megan Fox burns Bay bridge. CBS' 'Big Bang' bet

After the coffee. Before getting through the last of the upfronts! 

He's back!! Conan O'Brien was charged up and charming for his first day at work at Turner Broadcasting's TBS. O'Brien, who was booted off NBC's "Tonight Show" earlier this year, was the main attraction at a star-studded presentation Turner made to advertisers Wednesday in New York City. O'Brien told reporters after Turner's presentation that there is "no way the show won't be influenced by what I've gone through." Asked to elaborate on that, O'Brien cracked that he'd be "more of a man" physically, but "much weaker" emotionally. He said he did not have a dream first guest yet. Seems safe to say it won't be Jay Leno. More on Turner Broadcasting's big day from the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and USA Today. 

CBS makes a big bang. CBS made a bold move in its fall schedule, moving the Monday hit "The Big Bang Theory" to Thursday nights in the hopes of recapturing the glory and the advertising dollars NBC had with "Friends." The network also shifted "CSI Miami" to Sunday night and "Survivor" to Wednesday night. Charlie Sheen and his $1.2-million-per-episode paycheck will stay put at Mondays at 9 p.m. More on CBS' strategy from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Variety and Vulture.

Outfoxed! Megan Fox will not be in director Michael Bay's next "Transformers" movie. The outspoken, sultry star's option for the latest sequel was not picked up by Bay, according to Deadline Hollywood. Fox's PR team later issued a statement saying the decision not to take part in another "Transformers" was hers. Somehow we doubt that. After all, it's not like "Jennifer's Body" cleaned up at the box office or she showed a ton of comedy chops hosting NBC's "Saturday Night Live." We're guessing, as is everyone else, that there were finally some consequences to dissing Bay every chance she got. 

Staying independent. Producer Michael London, whose films include "13" and "Sideways," has had to adjust to the new financial realities of being an indie producer as the business has gone from, in his words, low-risk, high-reward to high-risk, low-reward. He talks shop with the Los Angeles Times' Claudia Eller. 

That's all folks! Maybe not. Warner Bros. is on a mission to revamp Looney Tunes with a new series and even some 3-D versions, according to the New York Times. At least this time the company isn't tampering too much with the looks of Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester (my favorite) and the rest of the bunch. But somehow I doubt that new Looney Tunes will really capture the intelligence, sarcasm and deviousness of the originals.

Univision's big push. Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is going to introduce almost two dozen new television series to advertisers Thursday afternoon, per the Wall Street Journal. Already, the No. 1 Hispanic broadcaster, Univision is betting there will be more ad dollars aimed at the Latin audience. On the business side, it owns many of its new shows. No word on whether majority owner Haim Saban will create a Spanish version of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" now that he has the rights back. 

Strange bedfellows ... or not. The Hollywood Reporter says that Deadline Hollywood editor Nikki Finke is in talks to take a consulting gig on the HBO series "Tilda" that the pay cable channel is developing and that bears a more than passing resemblance to the Hollywood scribe. Dave Poland's Hot Blog had some fun with this one. 

Inside the Los Angeles Times: John Horn looks at the release strategy for the Bollywood film "Kites," which includes two different versions of the movie: one for South Asia, and the Brett Ratner version for the rest of the globe. Kenneth Turan on documenter Frederick Wiseman. 

Don't you want to hear my rants about the Redskins? Follow me on Twitter at: twitter.com/JBFlint

-- Joe Flint

Winter Olympics, Conan O'Brien settlement put a drag on NBC Universal earnings

NBC Universal is relieved that its winter financial wipeout is finally over.

Parent company General Electric Co. on Friday released its first-quarter results, which included, as expected, substantial losses generated by NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Although GE posted a 32% drop in earnings, the company nonetheless beat analysts' expectations.

GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt said there were signs the economy was improving, along with the industrial giant's profit margins -- except for a couple of problem divisions.

"NBC, because of the Olympics, was a drag on margins overall," Immelt said.  

NBC Universal's operating profit of $199 million was down 49% compared with the first quarter of 2009. Revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter was up 23% compared with the year-earlier period, but it was about flat when ad sales for the Olympics were excluded from the results.

GE executives warned investors several months ago that it would lose as much as $250 million on its coverage of the Vancouver Games -- but it did not turn out as bad as first feared. NBC ended up losing $223 million on the Olympics, GE said. 

"In the end, the sales were better," explained GE Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin. Ratings were 14% higher than for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The television network took in about $800 million in revenue related to the Olympics in February, Sherin said. But that wasn't enough to cover the $820 million that NBC paid the International Olympics Committee for the TV rights, let alone the enormous costs of production and a workforce to broadcast the 17 days of events.

And then there was the Conan O'Brien effect.

Sherin donned his own comic hat, telling Wall Street analysts: "You might have missed this, but we did a lot of shuffling of the lineup in the first quarter. You may not realize it, but we are reprogramming at 10 p.m." 

NBC's late-night squeeze play -- canceling Jay Leno's failed prime-time show, moving him back to 11:35 p.m. and bumping O'Brien out of his coveted "Tonight Show" time slot -- was costly.  GE did not break out the amount shelled out to get rid of O'Brien (although sources have said NBC paid $32 million to O'Brien and an additional $15 million in severance for show executives and crew members). GE did include the peacock's fiasco as a negative in NBC's results, titled: "Conan O'Brien departure and settlement."

Since canceling Leno's prime-time show in February, ratings at 10 p.m. have been up 45%. And, Sherin said, "Jay Leno is back in late night and he regained his No. 1 position." 

NBC's Los Angeles-based movie studio, Universal Pictures, continued to deal with duds. "Box-office results for movies did fall short of our expectations," Sherin said, but he said that was partially offset by scaled-back spending on movie marketing. DVD sales were encouraging, with Universal selling 5 million units, led by the comedy "Couples Retreat."

On the upside, the television advertising market continues to show signs of recovery. Local television ad sales were up 15% in the first quarter, Sherin said, and some NBC network and cable channel ad sales were up as much as 20% over ad rates that were established last summer. That's a hopeful indicator as NBC Universal heads into the all-important advertising sales season next month.

Cable television once again was NBC Universal's top performer. USA, Bravo and Syfy had strong results, and Oxygen turned in its best ratings ever. Profit at financial news network CNBC was up 7%, and MSNBC "had a few milestones," Sherin said. MSNBC, he said, beat CNN in prime time for the quarter. 

Overall, General Electric generated first-quarter net income of $1.87 billion, or 17 cents a share, compared with $2.75 billion, or 26 cents, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was down 5% to $36.6 billion.

"In media we have a negative, but we think our worst quarter is behind us," Immelt said. "We should see growth at NBC U for the remainder of the year."

-- Meg James

Photo of Jeffrey Immelt by Jonathan Fickies / Bloomberg News

Rosie O'Donnell can still be a force, but a talk comeback is not without challenges

Will Rosie O'Donnell play Jay Leno to Ellen DeGeneres' Conan O'Brien?

That analogy may be a little over the top, but not by too much. Just when DeGeneres was positioning herself as the heir apparent to Oprah Winfrey's audience, out of nowhere comes O'Donnell looking to return to daytime talk when Winfrey hits the road in September 2011. 

O'Donnell is certainly a big name who had a huge following with her first talk show, which ran from 1996 to 2002. However, toward the end of the run of that show and through her controversial stint on ABC's "The View," O'Donnell became something of a lightning rod. Her outspoken personality and political stances on "The View" overwhelmed the image she'd cultivated as "the queen of nice" on her old talk show.

The folks backing O'Donnell -- former Warner Bros. syndication executives Dick Robertson and Scott Carlin -- are betting that she can reclaim her old audience. Both Robertson and Carlin helped launch her first show, which was produced by Warner Bros.' Telepictures Productions. When Winfrey leaves, television stations across the country -- including the ABC-owned stations in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago -- will have big holes to fill.

O'Donnell is not planning a political show, says a person familiar with her plans. Instead she wants to do a show that can cover issues and entertainment much the way Winfrey does. According to someone close to O'Donnell, her first choice for a producer is Rory Kennedy, the documentary filmmaker who is the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy. However, no executive producer has been named yet. Just the idea that Kennedy is being considered certainly signals that soft talk may not be on O'Donnell's agenda.

Furthermore, even if O'Donnell is planning on lightening her personality, that does not guarantee that the middle America viewers who made her a hit the first time around will come back. 

On the business side, there is still a lot of bad blood at ABC over how she left "The View," and while this new show will be syndicated, Robertson and Carlin are likely going to need the ABC-owned stations if they are to have a chance at succeeding. It is not a given that the ABC-owned stations are going to be looking for another talk show to replace Winfrey. Some of the stations may opt for more local news because they can make more money there.

With her quick wit, comedic timing and proven track record, O'Donnell certainly will make the next year interesting. DeGeneres too had to do a little image rehab after her ABC sitcom ended, but she was never as polarizing as O'Donnell has become.

People close to O'Donnell say it'd be foolish to bet against her. And it's true that she is a smart performer who has succeeded in the past. She could recapture her old magic. However, it would also be foolish to deny that she will need to resell herself to the public if in fact she wants to do a broad daytime talk show.

One thing O'Donnell's reentry into talk will do is make it all the harder for any newcomers to get off the ground.

As for the whole Leno-O'Brien comparison, it's true that analogy would work better if it was Winfrey deciding not to retire after all. But it is worth noting that O'Donnell was very critical of Leno's decision to come back to late-night television. Guess it is a case of do as I say, not as I do.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Rosie O'Donnell. Credit: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press

Rupert Murdoch needs to be convinced Conan O'Brien can make money for Fox

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said it's up to Fox Broadcasting to make a case that a late-night show hosted by Conan O'Brien can make money.

"We’re giving it a lot of thought and a lot of examination,” Murdoch said when asked during a conference call on the company's second quarter earnings about the prospect of Fox doing a deal with O'Brien to host a late-night show for the network. O'Brien walked away from his job as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" last month after the network told him it wanted to move the show from 11:35 p.m. to after midnight to make room for Jay Leno's return to late night from prime time.

Murdoch said the programmers at Fox Broadcasting -- Peter Rice and Kevin Reilly need to "show us we can do it and be fairly confident of making a profit." Murdoch's remarks echoed those that News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey and Fox Television Stations boss Roger Ailes made to Company Town last month about the prospects of O'Brien being signed to a deal.

The issue for Fox is getting time in late night from its affiliate stations to carry O'Brien. The Fox affiliates and the Fox-owned TV stations carry reruns of sitcoms in that hour that make them a lot of money. "I’m sure we’d have difficult renegotiations," Murdoch said of trying to get the go-ahead from affiliates to put O'Brien on the air.

The mogul said that although there have been some conversations with O'Brien's camp, there have been no "real negotiations."

--  Joe Flint

Related Post: News Corp.'s Chase Carey and Roger Ailes need to see the numbers before signing off on O'Brien.

Photo: News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch. Credit: Paul J. Richards / AFP/Getty Images.

NBC's Jeff Gaspin on emotions and late-night TV

LAS VEGAS -- NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin said he had not counted on the emotional factor when trying to restructure NBC's prime-time and late-night lineups by moving Jay Leno back to 11:30 p.m. and bumping Conan O'Brien to 12:05 a.m.

"I underestimated the emotional impact it would have on Conan," Gaspin said at the National Assn. of Television Program Executives conference in Las Vegas this morning. Gaspin said he thought O'Brien would go along with the plan.

"My goal was to keep both of them," Gaspin said in an interview session here. Interestingly, while Gaspin's boss, NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker, has often said he gave Leno a prime-time show because it would be cheaper than programming dramas, Gaspin said stopping Leno from going to ABC was "the primary focus."

Despite the beating the network has been taking in the press, Gaspin said he doesn't think either NBC or  Leno are tarnished. "Jay will go back ... the audience will start to come back," he said. 

While General Electric Co. chief executive Jeff Immelt recently said NBC would lose $250 million on the Olympics, Gaspin said the Games will be a "cleansing moment" for the network. After the games, the network will have its new 10 p.m. lineup in place and its new -- well old and new -- late night.

Asked by Broadcasting & Cable editor Ben Grossman if NBC's decisions to go back to dramas at 10 p.m., Leno at 11:35  and other moves the network had made recently was a sign that NBC was losing its nerve when it came to risks, Gaspin cracked, "It takes a lot of nerve to do some of the things we just did."

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Jeff Gaspin. Credit: Mitchell Haaseth / NBC

Wrangling over compensation for Conan O'Brien's "Tonight Show" staff heats up

Maybe Conan O'Brien won't be leaving NBC as soon as we thought.

Negotiations over his severance package have become bogged down over O'Brien's demands that NBC also compensate staff members on his show who will soon be out of work. About 190 people work on "The Tonight Show," including about 60 to 70 employees who moved to Los Angeles from New York early last year. NBC paid to relocate about 40 to 50 of those people, with the rest coming to L.A. on their own.

"We are fighting hard to get as much as possible to these people who are going to be out of work," Gavin Polone, O'Brien's manager, said in a e-mail this afternoon.

NBC is sensitive to the fact that its late-night shuffle will put people out of jobs and bristled over  suggestions that the network, owned by General Electric Co., was being insensitive to the plight of employees who will join the masses of unemployed workers in the midst of a recession that has hammered the entertainment industry.

"It was Conan's decision to leave NBC that resulted in nearly 200 of his staffers being out of work. We have already agreed to pay millions of dollars to compensate every one of them. This latest posturing is nothing more than a PR ploy," NBC said in a statement.

Not so, said Polone. "It is not a ploy or a strategy. Conan's first priority is and always has been to take care of the employees of the show. He paid them out of his own pocket during the strike when NBC laid them off. I think that shows his commitment better than a missive from an unnamed NBC executive."

NBC is expected to spend more than $40 million in severance packages to the show's workers. O'Brien's share of that amount is about $30 million, according to people close to the negotiations.

-- Meg James

Photo of Gavin Polone (2004) by Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Conan O'Brien settlement negotiations continue

While the main issues with Conan O'Brien have been sorted out, lawyers have spent the last two days haggling with NBC over severance packages for staff members of "The Tonight Show." About 190 people will lose their jobs when O'Brien signs off for the last time as host of the legendary program.

O'Brien's final night on "The Tonight Show" is expected to be Friday. As part of his negotiations, the 46-year-old comedian has demanded that the network compensate many of his staff members, according to people close to the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. About 40 to 50 people moved to Los Angeles from New York last year to work on the show when O'Brien relocated coasts. Another 15 to 20 came on their own.

An announcement of a settlement had been expected by now, but it looks like the messy O'Brien-NBC divorce won't be finalized until tomorrow -- at the earliest, according to people who are close to the talks.

The overall amount that NBC will have to pay will be about $40 million, according to two people. But a third knowledgeable person expects that the total tab will likely run to slightly above $50 million by the time NBC finishes writing all the severance checks.

-- Meg James

Photo Credit:  NBC/Paul Drinkwater

NBC source: Conan contract doesn't guarantee "The Tonight Show" start time

NBC and Conan O’Brien and his camp have been divided in recent days over a key question:  Is it “The Tonight Show” if the program does not begin at 11:35 p.m., immediately following the late local news?

Friday, an NBC official said that there was no mention of an 11:35 p.m. start time in O'Brien's contract, which guaranteed him the job as host of "The Tonight Show." NBC has proposed pushing O'Brien's show to 12:05 a.m. to make room for Jay Leno's return to late night.

O'Brien "does not have any time-slot protection in his contract," said an NBC executive who asked not to be identified discussing provisions of O'Brien's contract. Representatives for O'Brien were not immediately available to respond.

The issue is important because it could decide whether NBC is in breach of O'Brien's contract -- and whether the legal case could end up before a jury. People close to O'Brien said that O'Brien's earlier agreement with NBC specifically spelled out that "The Tonight Show" begins at 11:35 p.m. -- so they are confident in their position that "The Tonight Show" starts at 11:35 p.m. O'Brien in his public missive earlier in the week said that "For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news."

Said O'Brien: "The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show."

Meanwhile, people from both camps said they were close to a resolution that would end the acrimonious week-long battle that has damaged the reputations of NBC, Leno and O’Brien. The deal would call for O’Brien to leave NBC, clearing the way for Jay Leno to reclaim his longtime seat behind the desk at “The Tonight Show.” O'Brien was expected to host his show tonight and next week, said people close to the situation.

The exit agreement would end the seven-month tenure of O’Brien, who became the fifth host of “The Tonight Show” in June. It would also mark a high-profile misstep of NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker, who devised the plan in 2004 to give O’Brien “The Tonight Show” in 2009. Last year, Zucker shuffled the deck again, giving Leno his own prime-time show in an effort to try to keep both comedians in the NBC fold.

-- Meg James