NBC axes dept. heads, combines studio and scripted

NBC Universal announced its long-anticipated executive shakeup Monday in its TV divisions, with international production chief Angela Bromstad taking over the company's scripted efforts and former BBC Worldwide Prods. president Paul Telegdy joining the network as head of alternative programming and of UMS' newly formed unscripted production division.

As part of the restructuring, the company will merge its network and Universal Media Studio operations, with Bromstad overseeing all scripted projects for the network and the studio, as well as continuing to supervise the company's international production.

"As part of our continued reorganization and evolution, not only as a broadcaster but also as a content company, we are further integrating our international production operations and reorienting our domestic production operations into a centralized hub as we look to produce more content more efficiently and more globally," said NBC co-chair Ben Silverman. "Angela and Paul are two experienced executives who have worked across the world making content and are perfectly positioned to lead the network and studio operations."

In the shakeup, NBC's head of scripted programming Teri Weinberg, UMS president Katherine Pope and NBC's head of alternative programming Craig Plestis will leave their posts.

Plestis will leave in January to launch a new production house, Apogee Studios, and will have a deal through the alternative studio run by Telegdy. Weinberg will continue in her position until the expiration of her contract in June and then will launch her own production company with a new UMS deal.

There are reports that most of the department heads at the network and studio, including NBC's drama topper Katie O'Connell, UMS' No. 2 exec and head of comedy Erin Gough Wehrenberg, UMS drama head Elisa Roth and her lieutenant Lauren Stein have also been let go, which NBC executives would not confirm or deny during a conference call with reporters. Also rumored to be departing are the network's exec vp Ted Frank and Libby Hansen, Plestis' No. 2 in the alternative department.

During the call, NBC executives emphasized they will continue to buy projects from third-party studios and that Universal Media Studios will continue selling programming to other networks. NBC co-chair Marc Graboff billed the shakeup as an effort to become a more streamlined and creative-friendly company, saying that TV writers have been getting "noted to death by our executives" under the structure of separate scripted divisions.

"The move we're making today is not only the financial environment but we're trying to right-size our organization," Graboff said. "We're eliminating layers of bureaucracy. We're eliminating the multiple number of people involved in the creative organization so there's the shortest possible line between a writers' vision and what goes on the television screen."

The news comes as comments from NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker turned heads at New York conference, saying the network might scale back its weekly number of programming hours. The executives declined to elaborate on Zucker's comments.

Silverman, asked about the fall lineup, and said he's "personally disappointed" with the performance of the network's new shows.

"But I would also add we need to be patient, and one of the things I've learned is that patience is where we need to be," Silverman said. "As we look at shows like 'Kath & Kim' and remember that no comedies break out with their initial airing. It takes patience. And it's really exciting to be inside a development season without a strike."

When pressed on the reports of a "clean sweep" of network department heads, with Silverman the last man standing among the network's creative decision makers, Graboff maintained that NBC's actions are due to organizational streamlining.

"It's not a clean sweep," Graboff said "There is a lot of people staying with the organization. This is a restructuring to right-size our business. That's what drove this more than anything else. You're going to see a lot of the same faces."

Comments

[NewOrleans]

It would've been much more productive to just get rid of the incompetent boob Ben Silverman.

Ben says "we need to be patient...As we look at shows like 'Kath & Kim' and remember that no comedies break out with their initial airing. It takes patience. And it's really exciting to be inside a development season without a strike."

So, apparently "patience" only applies to certain shows. And "Lipstick Jungle" isn't one of them. Pathetic.