NBC topper acknowledges net's 'bad fall'

GreenblattDespite coming out of a fall in which NBC generated little, if any, must-see viewing, network topper Bob Greenblatt said he will continue to spend vigorously in order to mine hits. Following the NBCUniversal-Comcast merger, Greenblatt was given open purse strings by NBCU CEO Steve Burke to spend whatever it takes to generate hits. "If we had come up with 'Modern Family,' it would have been worth it," said Greenblatt on the disappointing fall. He acknowledged that NBC spent more on programming than in year's past but didn't have much to show for it yet. "It's like gambling," he told scribes at NBC's portion of the Television Critics Assn. tour in Pasadena on Friday. "You don't have any idea what is going to work and what isn't. He later continued: "It's a bit of a crapshoot, but it makes logical sense for us to spend to spend more money than Fox, CBS and ABC. But will we spend less in the future? I hope so." On Burke's ability to keep spending coin after a fallow fall and far from any sure things ahead, Greenblatt said, "He's the calmest most unflappable CEO in this entertainment business. Sure, he'd like to have it happen faster and ahead of schedule, but he's been very patient." Greenblatt also announced "Community," which had been pulled from the midseason sked, would return in the spring. He added that when it comes back, however, the laffer may not be in the difficult 8 p.m. timeslot. "I don't know if it makes sense for it to start off a night again, but we have a tight schedule for comedies and not a lot of place to put them. We have to see where 'Community' makes the most sense," he said. The exec earned points with scribes by not sugarcoating NBC's tough start to the season, opening the Q&A period with a candid admission: "It was a really bad fall and worse than I hoped for but about what I expected." His biggest disappointment was the Maria Bello starrer "Prime Suspect," which Greenblatt felt was a winner creatively but never generated any momentum in the ratings, even after moving it around the schedule. "Was she too (much of a) cable character? Was it too abrasive? Maybe it was the hat? I don't know," he said. "Maybe a hard-hitting cop show with a dead body in the first scene wasn't the best idea." Looking forward, NBC is betting heavily on rookie drama "Smash," which Greenblatt developed when he was running Showtime and took with him to NBC, and the return of musical competition series "The Voice." "I think 'Smash' is going to be very important to us, but I don't believe it's a make-or-break show for us," said Greenblatt of the Debra Messing and Katharine McPhee starrer that will launch Feb. 6, the day after NBC's telecast of the Super Bowl. "It only takes one show (to turn things around) and 'Smash' could be one of those shows." "The Voice" was clearly's NBC's biggest hit last season and much is riding on a successful second season, but Greenblatt was hedging a bit about the possibility of "The Voice" and "Smash" not doing well as some anticipate. "It's not like we'll go into receivership," he joked about the possibility both series not reaching lofty set goals. One topic of discussion was the future of Ryan Seacrest, who has been rumored to take over hosting duties for ayem news program "Today," a big profit center for NBC. Seacrest is already in the corporate family as a host on E! programming and producer of the cabler's hit reality "Kardashian" skeins as well as other shows. His moving over to "Today" has been rumored for months as a possible replacement for Matt Lauer, whose current contract expires at the end of 2012. Greenblatt called the Seacrest transition to "Today" a bit premature. "Our hope and belief is that Matt will stay though end of his contract," said Greenblatt, "We need to figure out how to take Ryan and keep him in the family." Greenblatt said he could see a day when broadcast networks will follow the cable model of 13 episodes per season rather than the traditional 22. "I don't know if every show benefits for having 22 episodes stretched across nine months with repeats," he said. "What cable does well is give you a burst of episodes. The audience is fine watching from January to May and then coming back to January (for a new season)." The benefits of cable's business model came up often at the panel, with Greenblatt -- having turned Showtime into both an awards magnet and profit center for CBS -- saying there were lessons that could be transferred to broadcast. "The beauty of cable is that the ratings don't really correlate to the bottom line," he said "At Showtime, 'Prime Suspect' would have been picked up after the third episode, called a hit and run for four or five seasons." Greenblatt also addressed the changes implemented during the past few months on the production side at the renamed Universal Television production wing. Greenblatt said the studio, which is on a mission to produce shows not only for NBC but outside networks, "could yield nothing but could yield hundreds of millions of dollars" if it generates hits down the road. One of Universal TV's longest-running shows is Fox's "House." Ratings for the Hugh Laurie drama have been on the downtrend in recent years. If the net decides not to renew the show for the 2012-13 season, Greenblatt said it was doubtful he would pick it up for the Peacock because of the high production cost on a show that's already in its eighth season. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com