Zucker: NBC Close to Final Deal on Vivendi

NBC should have a final agreement to buy Universal’s assets from Vivendi by the end of this month and close on the deal by the end of the first quarter of next year, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker said Wednesday at the Hollywood Radio and Television Society’s annual luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., featuring the broadcast networks’ entertainment presidents.

Once Universal is part of NBC, “We’ll look to produce television shows for all the networks and not just look in-house,” Mr. Zucker said.

NBC’s current production arm, NBC Studios, only produces shows for the network.

The topic of reality television inevitably came up, but this year with much less controversy. The six entertainment presidents all agreed reality is here to stay and is a crucial part of a balanced schedule. CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellem said that “Survivor” turned out to be a game changer for CBS and helped turn the network around. She also noted that “Survivor” is still on the schedule, now beginning its seventh edition, and that the network has been able to build franchises out of “Big Brother” and “The Amazing Race.”

Moderator Pat O’Brien asked the network executives to share the craziest reality show pitches they’ve heard. Drawing laughs from the crowd were answers such as the one pitched to UPN Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff in which prisoners compete to be models and a pitch to Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman where guys make jumps to the earth from space.

Entertainment presidents complained that the development cycle was flawed with a pilot season that finds every network chasing the same creative talent at the same time.

“It’s a sh***y system,” said WB Entertainment President Jordan Levin, noting that sometimes a network will have a great show but not be able to find the right cast because actors it wants are locked into other deals. At that point, so much money has been spent on the show, it’s hard to shut it down.

Ms. Ostroff said Madison Avenue dictates how the networks develop because it expects networks to present their new shows to advertisers every May during the upfronts. “Until Madison Avenue changes the way we present to them, we’re pretty much stuck with this system,” she said.

Fox has made an effort to do year-round development, as exemplified by the early start of “The O.C.,” Ms. Berman said. She said that Fox has already ordered its first two pilots for next year-a drama and a comedy.

For the first time, the HRTS entertainment presidents luncheon was produced by MTV Networks, with Spike Jones Jr. directing. The luncheon co-chairs were outgoing HRTS President Kevin Reilly, president of prime-time development at NBC, and incoming HRTS President Jordan Levin, entertainment president at The WB.

Chris Sloan Joins TLC: USA Network exec Chris Sloan has jumped to The Learning Channel, the network announced today.

Mr. Sloan, who was senior VP of reality programming and specials at USA, will be VP of production at TLC.

“I have rarely met anyone who is as passionate and knowledgeable about television and who has such a thorough vision for storytelling and keeping the interests of the audience at the forefront of every decision,” said Roger Marmet, TLC’s senior VP and general manager.

Executives Unhappy With Development System: Broadcast network entertainment presidents attending Wednesday’s annual luncheon of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society in Beverly Hills, Calif., complained about how flawed the development cycle is with a pilot season that finds every network chasing the same creative talent at the same time.

“It’s a shitty system,” said WB Entertainment President Jordan Levin, noting that sometimes a network will have a great show but just not be able to find the right cast because actors they want are locked into other deals. At that point, so much money has been spent on the show, it’s hard to shut it down.

UPN Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff said Madison Avenue dictates how the networks develop because advertisers expect networks to present their new shows every May during the upfronts. “Until Madison Avenue changes the way we present to them, we’re pretty much stuck with this system,” she said.

Fox has made an effort to do year-round development, as exemplified by the early start of “The O.C.,” Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman said. She said last week that Fox has already ordered its first two pilots for next year — a drama and a comedy.

For the first time, the HRTS entertainment presidents luncheon was produced by MTV Networks, with Spike Jones Jr. directing. The luncheon co-chairs were outgoing HRTS President Kevin Reilly, president of prime-time development at NBC, and incoming HRTS President Jordan Levin, entertainment president at The WB.

Record Ratings for Court TV: Court TV said Wednesday that it generated its highest-ever ratings during the week of Sept. 8 to 14, as premiere episodes of several series propelled the cable channel’s continued audience growth. The network garnered 975,000 total viewers, up more than 23 percent from a year earlier. In the key 18 to 49 demo, Court TV’s audience grew nearly 25 percent to 374,000 viewers.

Network officials attributed the growth to season premieres of such series as “Forensic Files,” “Dominick Dunne’s Power, Privilege and Justice,” and “The System,” which together earned an average 1.3 household rating in their respective time periods.

Court TV Developing Forensics Series: Continuing to strengthen its brand as the investigation network, Court TV said Wednesday that it is teaming up with renowned forensic scientist Henry Lee to develop an hour-long series that will profile some of Dr. Lee’s more than 6,000 cases.

Each episode of the show, tentatively called “Trace Evidence: The Case Files of Dr. Henry Lee,” will highlight two or three cases in which his analysis played a key role in solving the crime. The series is slated to premiere in early 2004 and is being executive produced by Lawrence Shiller in conjunction with Fox Television Studios.

Dr. Lee, who is currently chief emeritus of the Connecticut State Police Laboratory and a forensic science professor at the University of New Haven, will revisit the scenes of the crimes, speak with lawyers, prosecutors and investigators and return to his crime lab to explain to viewers how he was able to come to his conclusions.

Liberty Completes Acquisition of QVC: Liberty Media said Wednesday that it has completed its $7.9 billion acquisition of the 57 percent stake in shopping channel QVC that it didn’t own from cable giant Comcast.

Per the terms of the sale, Liberty said it delivered to Comcast 218 million Liberty shares valued at $11.71 per share, or a total of $2.55 billion, a three-year note worth $4 billion and $1.35 billion in cash.

For Liberty, the sale gives the media company full ownership of property known for generating significant cash and is in keeping with Liberty’s strategy to be a more active owner of assets. Comcast, meanwhile, said it plans to use the proceeds to continue paying down the debt incurred when it acquired cable systems from AT&T.

‘Whoopi,’ ‘Happy Family’ Ratings Drop: NBC’s two new sitcoms “Whoopi” and “Happy Family” dropped 27 percent and 33 percent, respectively, in adults 18 to 49 ratings from their year-ago averages. “Whoopi” scored a second place 3.6/11, and “Family” a third place 3.4/9. The sitcoms were up against ABC’s special “John Ritter: Life of Laughter,” which won the time period with a 5.0/15.

CBS’s finale of “Cupid” saw a big gain over last week, winning its 9 p.m. time slot with a 4.1/11, edging out Fox’s “The O.C.” (4.0/10) for first place. For the night in adults 18 to 49, ABC won with a 3.7/10, followed by NBC and CBS (3.3/9) and Fox (3.1/9). In total viewers, ABC won the night with 10.2 million viewers, followed by NBC (9.2 million), CBS (8.9 million) and Fox (6.8 million).