Jeff Zucker is taking the blame for the decision to move Jay Leno to 10 p.m., while former boss Bob Wright is coming out squarely for Team Conan.
Finally breaking his silence on NBC's epic late night collapse, the NBC U CEO admitted to the New York Times that his much-hyped strategy to cut costs, boost profits and keep Leno inside NBC had failed.
“At the end of the day Jay at 10 o’clock didn’t work, and I take responsibility for that," Zucker told the paper.
The Times story did not quote Zucker as elaborating on the reasons for the failure, nor did it have him addressing the network's decision to dump Conan O'Brien after Leno flopped in primetime. Zucker's friend, NBC U sports czar Dick Ebersol, earlier this week used the pages of the Times to denounce O'Brien as an "absolute failure" and to chide other comics for daring to make fun of Leno.
While he didn't explain his thinking, Zucker implied that the reaction to his moves was simply a resistance to the crumbling of the old world order in TV.
“I think part of why there’s been such a visceral reaction to this is we’ve talked about change and taking risks, and that’s something I’ve always been associated with,” said Zucker, who's become known for couching all of his controversial decisions as monumental and precedent setting. “And not being afraid to take chances.”
Zucker also tries to dismiss the unrelentingly negative coverage of NBC's after-hours debacle, hinting that all will soon be forgotten.
"We live in a society today that loves a soap opera,” Zucker told the Times. “Three months ago it was David Letterman. Six weeks ago it was Tiger Woods’s problems. Today it’s NBC’s problems.”
Much of the Times story read like an obituary for NBC, complete with a detailed history of the network's early days and quotes from iconic figures in the Peacock's past -- including Fred Silverman and Bill Cosby.
The most fascinating cameo in the article, however, was from former NBC chief Bob Wright. Wright groomed Zucker to be his successor, but -- putting on our Kremlinoligist hats for a moment -- his comments to the Times can be interpreted as something of a slap at Zucker.
Wright, who could have remained silent on the O'Brien matter, instead chose to express his unhappiness with how things have played out.
"They could have done it another way," Wright said, adding that he was "very disappointed that they are losing Conan, who is very talented. To get squeezed out like that is very tough."
Wright also seemed intent on setting the record straight about NBC's transformation from a broadcast-centric business into a powerhouse in cable. Zucker's defenders often cite NBC U's strong cable track record as evidence that the CEO has actually had a successful run, despite the broadcast network's well-documented woes.
In fact, NBC U acquired the already successful USA and Syfy (nee SciFi), as well as Bravo, and kept the executives already in place at those networks.
