The TV Zone

So Jeff Zucker will be named chief executive of NBCUniversal this morning. Now there's a surprise for you. And the sun also rose. Perhaps the only shocker in this inevitability was the way Bob Wright was dumped like a body on the side of the Jersey Turnpike, as if to say: You're yesterday, Bob, and Jeff is today. But that's TV for you. The minute anyone starts to think they're indispensable then it's a sure sign they're about to be dispensed.

But what, really, do we know about Zucker, who will assume one of the most important jobs in the entertainment kingdom? There have been plenty of people inside and outside of NBC who think he should never have gotten this job - a tin ear for programming, or too much of an operator have been just some of the more common whacks. But everyone should be graded on an entire career and not a couple of little (okay, big) drawbacks. Here's the Zucker report card:

News: Great transition from Brokaw to Williams, and Couric to Vieira, though there were plenty of cooks who deserve credit for this. Neal Shapiro was a good steward of the initial Williams era, while Steve Capus - current boss - is doing fine as well. While Zucker predecessor Andy Lack groomed Brian Williams, however, Zucker got Vieira.
Grade: B.

Primetime: Blessedly brief Entertainment career will always be branded - fairly, by the way - with just one word, "Couples," one of the worst sitcoms in TV history. But at least he went into the gig with a sense of adventure (supersized episodes) and a sense of realism (carved a 10th season outta "Friends.") But he knew he was weak at this stuff, and wisely set himself up for a fast exit back to New York. His timing was exquisite (NBC collapsed the minute he stepped on the G.E. corporate jet back home) but it fooled no one. He did keep Conan O'Brien in the fold, but at the expense of Jay Leno who will probably launch a late night show at a rival by decade's end.
Grade D.

Picking the right people: Some execs are good at picking the right shows and some are good at picking the right people. Here's where Zucker excels. He got (for example) pal Kevin Reilly to come over from FX to replace him. Bad move for Reilly, right? Wrong: He's been an inspired choice, and turned NBCE around.
Grade A.

MSNBC/CNBC: Here were two thankless gigs when Zucker came back east. MS was facing oblivion while CNBC was facing irrelevance. Instead of distancing himself from losers, he took a different tack - attempt a pair of turnarounds. He showed patience, picked the right people to run them, and got some traction (and good press) for both. There's a long way to go, but they are pointed in the right direction.
Grade A.

Bravo/Sci-Fi/USA: The three key entertainment networks from the cable portfolio are mixed bags. Bravo has to be considered a turnaround story - Zucker's taste for pop culture was well suited to a network that's far more low brow than high. But shows like "Project Runway," "Top Chef," and "Real Housewives" have found a big life around the watercooler. And Sci-Fi has one of the best shows on TV ("Battlestar Galactica.") USA, meanwhile, remains a faceless face in the crowd, and a one-show ("Monk") giant without much of a personality and way too many commercials.
Grade B.

Vision: This is, after all, the key thing that scored Zucker tickets to the big corner office. But what is his vision, really? He unveiled "NBC 2.0," which feels like an exercise in smoke and mirrors designed to mask layoffs and huge cutbacks. The word "Internet" is also implicit in this so-called vision of the future, but one can't avoid the feeling that Zucker is telling the big guy in the ivory tower in Fairfield - Jeffrey Immelt - exactly what he wants to hear. That you've got to make NBC more "competitive" with Google (per some of the news stories this morning, and I would refer you to Meg James' excellent wrap in the L.A.Times)? Is NBC going to get into the search business? Whatever. This remains a content business - picking hit shows. That's something NBC should be focusing on, period. Don't worry about Google. Worry about building "Heroes" and the successor to "ER."
Grade: C.

The New Boss of NBC