Robert Greenblatt Chris Haston/NBCUniversal
Bob Greenblatt, Jen Salke and Paul Telegdy also discussed the importance of live programming and the plans for a Jimmy Burrows' tribute.
NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt wasted no time reminding the press just how well his network is faring.
"I know other networks have been up here this week and have said they had great fall seasons as well, but let me give you some details about what I mean when I use the word great," he told those gathered for the Television Critics Association Wednesday. He then began rattling off a string of impressive stats, including the fact that NBC leads the network pack by a margin of 17 percent this fall.
Thanks to a range of successes, both old (Sunday Night Football, The Voice) and new (Blindspot, Chicago Med), NBC is the only broadcast network that didn't post losses in both the key 18-49 demo and total viewers for the first half of the season. Even better, NBC won every week of the fall among younger viewers, save for one where Fox had a collection of World Series games. But before the press could write off his success as a testament to the singular strength of its top-rated Sunday Night Football, he was careful to add: "When you factor out sports, we’re also No. 1 with entertainment programs only, and that hasn’t happened since 2003 when we had the final season of Friends."
After the self-declared "victory lap," which also included a renewal for Late Night with Seth Meyers and an announcement that Hairspray would be the network's next musical, Greenblatt invited NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke and Alternative / Late Night Chief Paul Telegdy to join him on stage. Here are the highlights from their half hour before the press.
All About Trump
What would an NBC executive session be without a series of questions about of Donald Trump? Greenblatt fielded the first, which centered on Trump’s highly rated, controversial Saturday Night Live appearance. He touted the episode’s strong ratings, noting: “He was on the show for 11 minutes, and the earth didn’t fall out of its axis.” No. 2. came mere minutes later, with a reporter wondering how they had reconciled their public decision from this summer to get “out of business” with Trump with the decision to invite him to host SNL. “That was June or July, when most of us thought he’d be waltzing into the background of the political arena,” Greenblatt acknowledged, noting that he’s now the frontrunner and thus an unavoidable part of the conversation. “The poll numbers are astounding. He’s everywhere. We’re not in business with him but he's one of the most — love it or not — important political figures of our time."
When the third question came late in the panel, with a reporter reciting the NBC statement about cutting ties, Greeblatt tried another approach: “If we were in the business of never having anyone guest on the network who disagreed with our views, we would be out of business.” By that time, Telegdy had had it. He said with displeasure in his voice: "That doesn't prevent me from booking someone who's in the public eye on a news program or an entertainment program, if they are either newsworthy or they're entertaining." He then added, "Does that answer the Donald Trump question? It is as clear to us and it is as clear to the people who produce in our news division and our entertainment division what the differences are."
Fallon's Health
After Greenblatt used the TCA platform to announce he'd be renewing Seth Meyers late night show, he was asked if the move was done as an insurance policy given Jimmy Fallon's string of unfortunate accidents. "Jimmy is going to be fine for many years to come," he said. "I often say Jimmy is going to be there longer than me and many of you in your jobs.: Post panel, he was asked more pointedly about the reports of Fallon's drinking habit, to which he told a smaller group of reporters: "He doesn't have a drinking problem that any of us know about. He goes out and has fun and he's had some accidents." Greenblatt then added: "We are always worried about his safety and health and yeah, there's been conversations about that, [but] the stories are exaggerated about all of it."
Ricky, Ricky, Ricky
Telegedy and Greenblatt were quick to defend Ricky Gervais’ latest Golden Globes foray, arguing the ratings were down only a fraction in the face of strong competition from the NFL. “A 5 percent decrease year to year [meant] we popped champagne,” Greenblatt explained, with Telegdy adding of his edgy material: “When you book Ricky, you know what you’re in for.” The reality boss added that despite Gervais’ post-show comments about being approached to return, the network had yet to make any decisions about Gervais’ future with the show. Greenblatt then interjected to laughs: “I think Ricky made a decision about returning, but we haven’t.”
More Live Fare
Despite Best Night Ever’s quick demise and Undateable’s ratings woes, Greenblatt and Salke are still heavily committed to live programming – when it makes sense. The live musicals will continue, of course, with Hairspray on tap for next December. The team will continue to explore opportunities in both drama and comedy, too, with Salke acknowledging she approached Dick Wolf about doing a live episode of one of his Chicago shows. His response? “He laughed at me,” she said.
A Burrows Tribute
On the heels of his 1,000th episode, legendary director Jimmy Burrows is getting an NBC tribute Feb. 21st. Sean Hayes is set to produce, with a coteries of stars, including the six stars of Burrows’ Friends.
More to come...
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