Comments on: Why are we condemning Jeff Zucker & NBC over Leno ?

By: redserpent

redserpent — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:37:00 +0000

amazing! The drama is not Leno/Conan is Zucker/Board of Directors. Amazing really after all it has been written, how can the public co-sign bad checks written by incompetent businessmen? Just because they are written by Men of Business(who BTW is no entrepreneur) on and on. The point is a bad decision is a bad decision no matter the “Good Reasons” behind it. And a lousy business person with a long record of failures is lousy regardless of who judges him. Example The decision to buy a piece of the “Broklyn Bridge” is an ignorant and bad business decision even if the people criticizing it are children, communists or homeless, Mr. Zucker has made a long string of lousy decisions that have cost NBC Millions of dollars. America is tired of Boards of directors that allow chronic failure having grave consequences in loss of jobs, communities resources and to add insult to injury in many cases reward it. The criticism is not particular of Mr. Zucker but of those who co-sign the incompetence under the excuse that is un-American to criticize Business at all.

By: JoeDuck

JoeDuck — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:23:01 +0000

Right as usual. People get wrapped up in the story and the drama rather than the hard cold cash data and facts. These are businesses doing business. It’s not NBCs job to be stick to bad plans – in fact they have an obligation to … change.

By: dg666

dg666 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:24:30 +0000

This article is absurd at every level.

Jeff Zucker made a strategic decision and sold it as the best thing since sliced bread. He dismissed critics, told people things needed to change and executed.

The result cost NBC millions and everything he was warned about came true. Zucker has had a series of failures and this one proves again that he is completely cluseless about television.

This is the problem that typifies Corporate America today. According to what was written here there is no such thing as a failure in leadership. There is only decisions that you can reverse because you need to take “risk”. Where is the accountability? If you get rewards for taking a risk why not accept the consequences when you fail?

The issue here is the lack of accountability for bad decision making. How many failures can this guy make before NBC goes bankrupt? GE owned NBC for one reason only. It was a cash cow. Zucker killed that cow.

I challenge everyone here to turn left instead of right when you are being warned left is a disaster. And then after losing millions you can scream “I am a risk taker!! That is why I turned left”

I guarantee you will all be out of jobs.

I repeat. If you steer your boat into an iceberg you should not be Captain!!

By: dcangelo

dcangelo — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:33:53 +0000

I wonder what Mark thinks of General Motors sale of the Saab division to tiny Dutch luxury-sportscar maker Stryker? I wonder if Stryker will take “risks” with the brand after shelling out about 74 million dollars and another 300 million plus in new company stock to GM to gain control of Saab? Here is a case where survival and success will depend on some risk taking to differenciate Saab and restore some profitability.

By: jameshelms

jameshelms — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:10:22 +0000

I’d buy it if the risk had been to do something new. Leno isn’t a RISK. Leno’s a dinosaur. He’s exactly what’s predictably wrong with NBC. NBC isn’t trying to change the game, they’re trying to save a buck. They thought they could get by on the cheap and neither their audience nor their advertisers bought it.

I’d love to see NBC take a true risk: the kind your describing. Leno wasn’t a double down. He was a quarter on red from a player who’s out of chips and doesn’t want to hit the ATM.

By: tywheatley

tywheatley — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:25:35 +0000

Even if Jay Leno gets good ratings now, Conan is the wave of the future. In five years Leno will likely be off the air and NBC will have only Jimmy Fallon. In ten years they will mess that up too when they bring Leno back again.

I’m with CoCo. See you on FOX.

By: Keith versus the Meme: Defending Jay Leno « 2Guys, a JD and a Blog

Keith versus the Meme: Defending Jay Leno « 2Guys, a JD and a Blog — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:27:11 +0000

[...] Conan to take over the tonight show, NBC got cold feet (and rightfully so.) Mark Cuban actually blogged about why we should be applauding NBC for taking a risk and giving Leno a shot at 10pm and I agree [...]

By: russwagner

russwagner — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:55:27 +0000

Mark – Great Blog – I had to sell Leno at 10p for a Local Market, I loved the concept and opportunity because it offered comedy at this hour. The ratings are still better than these shows NBC creates – the buyers just did not jump on board.

Great Post.

By: andrewtytla

andrewtytla — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:25:43 +0000

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/12/leno-nbc-hedgin.html
In a piece published on Dec. 9, 2008–on the occasion of NBC announcing Leno’s move to 10 p.m.–Hibberd said he had spoken to the source in June, 2008, who had told Hibberd this:

“They [NBC] will try to keep Jay in the fold so if Conan fails on ‘The Tonight Show’ they will put Jay right back in there. Jeff Zucker will call Jay into his office with big wink and say, ‘if you say it publicly I’ll deny it, but if Conan fails, I want you back.’ That’s just the way NBC works. Back when Dave and Jay were fighting over ‘The Tonight Show,’ they tried to see if they could do the same thing. That’s what they’re going to try and do here with Jay and Conan, only they are more likely to pull it off this time. One of the most important things to remember about NBC, is they had Coke with Carson. There was no Pepsi. They gave birth to Dave, then they suddenly had a cola war. They cannot bear the idea of Conan or Jay going across the street.”

By: Mark Cuban, Jay Leno, and Risk-Taking « Tony Paganelli's Notebook

Mark Cuban, Jay Leno, and Risk-Taking « Tony Paganelli's Notebook — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:07:47 +0000

[...] 23, 2010 in Leadership, Movies & TV Mark Cuban has a fabulous post over on Blog Maverick this week with his take on the NBC-Jay Leno fracas. His position: NBC did the right thing, and [...]