JAY LENO - UNIVERSAL'S LATEST SLASHER HITS FRONT OFFICE

UNIVERSAL'S LATEST SLASHER HITS FRONT OFFICE

The guillotine that several studio experts had been saying for weeks was poised over the heads of Universal Pictures' co-chairmen Marc Shmuger and David Linde finally fell Monday. The two were removed even as reports that the studio and its corporate sibling NBC were said to be the center of complicated merger negotiations between their parent, General Electric, France's Vivendi Corporation, and cable provider Comcast. The two are being replaced by Adam Fogelson, the studio's head of marketing, and Donna Langley, its head of production. The shakeup occurs following the latest studio flop, Love Happens, which had been preceded by a long list of even bigger flops, including Land of the Lost, Funny People and Public Enemies." In an interview with today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times, Universal Studios President Ron Meyer said that the studio under Shmuger and Linde had become "destabilized." He added, "We needed a change in direction. In a company like this, it's very much about the culture, the people and the way we're all interacting with each other." Meanwhile, corporate sibling NBC continued to bleed viewers Monday night. It placed fourth in every half hour and produced its worst ratings yet for the Jay Leno Show , which attracted only 4.31 million viewers, well below his average when he hosted the Tonight show.

06/10/2009