Zucker: NBC's in driver's seat. (Top of the Week).(contract with Warner Bros. for Friends)(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, February, 2002 by Schlosser, Joe

NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker says the $156 million deal his network signed with Warner Bros. Last week to continue Friends for one more season puts NBC in the driver's seat among the broadcast competition. It's an expensive ride (each of six Friends cast members will earn $1 million per episode), but Zucker's probably right: The network has already renewed Frasier and ER for another two seasons, and Law & Order is locked up through 2004-05.

The West Wing is renewed through next season. "Obviously, we are going to win this season in a dominant way whether you include the Olympics or not," says Zucker. "We are going to run away with the demos race whether you include the Olympics or not, and we are going to win total viewers whether you...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.