It was 'now or never' for Silverman at NBC

0 Comments | USA TODAY, May, 2007 | by Gary Levin

NBC completed a major executive shake-up Tuesday that will see its programming chief exit after three years. The network and its studio arm will now be run by two chiefs.

NBC dumped entertainment president Kevin Reilly and named West Coast president Marc Graboff and Ben Silverman, a producer of Ugly Betty and The Office, as co-chairmen of both the network and its sibling TV studio. Graboff will handle business matters; Silverman also will assume Reilly's duties, overseeing programming, scheduling and promotion.

Viewers should not expect huge changes. Silverman says he'd "put 10 Heroes on the air" if he could: "I like quality with noise," or water-cooler potential. Yet NBC's huge cost-cutting drive has limited its program development and left it without any...