NBC Chief Bob Greenblatt on the Upfront, "Peter Pan Live," Bill Cosby and "Hannibal" - Ed Martin

Beverly Hills CA amp8211 NBC put on a jampacked and very effective day Sunday at the Summer Television Critics Association tour which included panels for all of its new fall series its upcoming telecast of the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards showrunners from several of its returning shows including The Blacklist Grimm Parenthood and Chicago Fire among others and one that mesmerized the roughly 250 reporters and critics gathered here A heavy duty crash course in the everchanging art of total audience measurement presented by NBCUniversal Research and Media Development President Alan WurtzelThere were many surprising facts and figures in Wurtzel39s presentation but few more eyeopening than this quotIf you compare the DVR ratings in primetime to the average four network live numbers amp8230 what you realize is that not only is DVR playback in primetime the 1 network but it39s basically equivalent to all four combinedquotAs is the norm on broadcast days at TCA tours it was the session with the network39s top executives amp8211 NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke and NBC Entertainment Alternative and Late Night Programming President Paul Telegdy amp8211 that drew the largest crowd and made the most news Greenblatt was especially upbeat talking at length not only about NBC39s recent growth up 10 percent this season in the 1849 demographic and the only network to be up year to year he said its seasonal standing as No 1 in the 1849 demo even without those big numbers for the Olympics and its success this summer with such original programs as America39s Got Talent American Ninja Warrior Last Comic Standing and surprise summer hit The Night Shift which enjoyed the strongest launch of any summer drama series on NBC in 14 years Meanwhile ratings for The Tonight Show are at a 20year high for the franchise and NBC has two giant events coming in the season ahead The December 4 telecast of Peter Pan Live featuring Christopher Walken as Captain Hook and the Super BowlGreenblatt also said that NBC had just wrapped quota fantasticquot Upfront and that even though the marketplace was quottougherquot this year his network led the broadcasters quotin both volume and pricing increasesquot NBC quottook in an additional 300 million more this year than last year which is saying something since last year was a tenyear high for usquot he addedAnother surprise in the session which may not have been actual news but was largely unknown to most TCA members was the reveal that NBC is developing a new situation comedy starring a veteran of the network39s legendary Eighties schedule Bill Cosby quotIt39s a multigenerational family showquot said Salke Cosby plays quotthe patriarch of the family dispelling his classic wisdom on relationships parenthood everything in life amp8230 it39s him with three daughters with husbands and grandchildren It39s just a classic big extended family sitcomquot The show is still being written Greenblatt and Salke said it would likely not arrive on NBC39s schedule before summer or fall 2015Greenblatt in the past has expressed a certain level of envy for cable networks that are free to develop programming without broadcastlevel concerns about content When one reporter noted that he couldn39t think of a show that is darker than NBC39s Hannibal and asked why the network can39t quotdo a True Detective or a Fargoquot Greenblatt didn39t have a particularly strong answerquotThat39s a really good question and I don39t know if I can answer it because Hannibal is one of the best shows we have creatively and it39s one of the best reviewed shows that this network has had since I39ve been here in three and a half yearsquot he said quotWe still struggle to find an audience for it It39s great We39re keeping it going We keep trying to build the audience If this were on a cable network the small audience wouldn39t matter and it would be deemed successful more successful than it is on our network I don39t know why five million or eight million people won39t watch 39Hannibal39 on a broadcast networkquotquotThree million might watch it on Showtime or two million on another cable network and that39s okayquot he continued quotThe minute you try to do something that is dark and subversive and frightening and gets into that territory you start to peel away the mass audience It39s just the way it is because the quality of that show is undeniablequotThe producers of Hannibal quotjust pitched the next season and it blew us awayquot Salke added quotYou can39t help but get really excited about it but amp8230 we read a lot of the research and amp8230 it39s like 39Oh this cable show is on NBC39 So that39s how they kind of view itquot

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NBC Chief Bob Greenblatt on the Upfront, "Peter Pan Live," Bill Cosby and "Hannibal" - Ed Martin

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NBC Chief Bob Greenblatt on the Upfront, "Peter Pan Live," Bill Cosby and "Hannibal" - Ed Martin

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