Ed Martin Live at TCA: NBC's Robert Greenblatt Explains How He Plans to Turn the Network Around

In his first appearance as NBC Entertainment Chairman at a Television Critics Association tour Robert Greenblatt made clear that he loves all of his new children equally introducing every session for each of his network39s six new fall shows amp8211 plus veteran franchise The Sing Off something top broadcast executives rarely do at TCA toursGreenblatt was for the most part very effective not only in presenting his fall freshmen but in discussing his hopes and plans for NBC under his leadership quotThe goal for this season and for the next few years is to rebuild the schedulequot Greenblatt said sounding like many a past broadcast network chief at one time or another quotWe39re going to be very aggressive We want to restore NBC to its leadership position in quality We39re going to do attention getting shows Hopefully we will have the patience to see those attention getting shows get their full shot at successquotquotWe39re going to develop upscale original shows that hopefully appeal to our audience which has always been more upscale and more desirable for advertisers than any of the other networksquot he addedIn his previous position as President of Entertainment at Showtime Greenblatt excelled in developing smart sophisticated high quality shows that appeal to discerning viewers Of course sophistication comes with certain limitations One critic asked if the shows Greenblatt nurtured at the pay cable network including Sleeper Cell The Tudors Dexter and Nurse Jackie amp8211 could work on a major broadcast network like NBCquotI don39t think those shows would work in terms of the broad appeal that we39re looking forquot Greenblatt replied quotYou know we ran Dexter on CBS for half a season during the Writers Guild of America strike and it did okay Those shows work in smaller universes where the business model isn39t based on the most people watching a show That said I think what39s interesting psychologically and conceptually about those shows and I don39t mean specifically but sort of generically is some of the thinking we have to bring to network television I don39t mean serial killers and potselling soccer moms I think we39ve got to find ways to conceptually excite the audience which has so much else to watch and so many diversions and so many great shows on cablequotHarking way back to his time as a programming executive at Fox Greenblatt recalled quotWe had the same mandate because Fox wasn39t an established network and we had to figure out how to compete with the three big networks We kept our eye on the notion of we39ve got to do things that nobody else is doing It39s getting exponentially harder because there are dozens of networks doing original programmingquotThere39s also the question of whether shows of the same quality as AMC39s Mad Men which don39t necessarily earn ratings that reflect their buzz or their acclaim can find an audience large enough on broadcast to ensure their survival For example could a show like NBC freshman The Playboy Club be broad enough to be a network hit quotwhen even on cable a show like that only draws 2 million viewersquot one critic askedGreenblatt was diplomatic quotI have great respect for Mad Menquot he said quotBut I think in spite of the settings the period being similar I think The Playboy Club is much more of an energized soap opera which is a genre that works really well The tricky thing with soaps is the repeatability and all of that But I don39t think The Playboy Club amp8230 will feel like Mad Men when you ultimately see it What I think it has going for it is a recognizable brand that39s automatically going to draw attention to it good or bad I think it39s a really fun soap that has a mob element and a crime element so I think it39s the right kind of thing for us to tryquotOne critic asked what kind of shows Greenblatt would be looking for at NBC as opposed to what he wanted at ShowtimequotThis is a tricky way to answer this because I certainly don39t want to turn NBC into Showtime but I would love to bring some of the creative vitality to NBC that we had at Showtimequot Greenblatt replied quotWe just have to do it in a way that39s really broad and commercial The devil39s in the details So what am I telling producers I39m trying to get the greatest writers and producers that I know to come to NBC And while I want to sort of guide them into a broad arena I also don39t want to tie their hands so that the creativity gets sucked out of the show which is often what happens in any network cable or broadcast developmentquotOne thing that has worked well for him in the past Greenblatt added was to find writers whose creative voices he quotreally reallyquot loved and then do everything possible to quotstay out of their way That said we have to guide some of them Cable39s been such a dream for a lot of writers Broadcast is more difficult But I think hopefully they will all want to come and we39ll find the right things to do togetherquotYou are receiving this email as a corporate subscriber to Jack Myers Media Business Report Redistribution in any form except among approved individuals within your company is prohibited As a subscriber you have full access to all archives and reports at wwwjackmyerscom If you require your ID and password contact maryannjackmyerscom

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Ed Martin Live at TCA: NBC's Robert Greenblatt Explains How He Plans to Turn the Network Around

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Ed Martin Live at TCA: NBC's Robert Greenblatt Explains How He Plans to Turn the Network Around

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