NBC - SILVERMAN OUT AT NBC

SILVERMAN OUT AT NBC

After months of denials that he was going anywhere, Ben Silverman is stepping down as Co-chairman of NBC Universal Entertainment to start up a new production company for Barry Diller's IAC. Neither the name of the new venture nor a description of the kind of content it is expected to turn out was announced. In a statement issued early today (Monday), Diller said cryptically only that the company will be "a truly integrated and truly interactive new media production entity, a next generation enterprise that bridges the gap between traditional television and the Internet." Silverman's tenure at GE-owned NBC has been marked by the network's steepest decline in history. Among the flops that he launched were Knight Rider, Cath and Kim, My Own Worst Enemy, Crusoe, and Merlin. Only last Saturday, Kings , another Silverman-backed project, aired its series finale with just 1.8 million viewers tuning in. Taking Silverman's place will be will be NBC's cable-TV overseer, Jeff Gaspin, who has been given the new title of "Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment." GE's film studio, Universal Pictures, has also been faring poorly, with numerous recent reports indicating that one or more of its top executives may be on his way out.

27/07/2009