NBC executive has been hit and miss

Silverman also awarded Weinberg's boyfriend and his writing partner a lucrative producing deal with NBC's television studio. And although Weinberg promised not to get involved, she made her staff and others uncomfortable by pushing for her boyfriend's pet project, a comedy called "Zip" about a down-on-his-luck con artist, according to three people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Weinberg declined to comment.

"This was not the first producer deal that a television studio has paid off before it ran out," Zucker said of last month's settlement. Weinberg has been doing a "fantastic" job, he said.

Advertisers expect NBC to perform adequately in the fourth quarter thanks to the strength of returning series such as "Heroes," "The Biggest Loser" and "Sunday Night Football."

But once the football season ends, "there are a lot of question marks," said David Scardino, a TV programming analyst for Santa Monica advertising agency RPA.

In addition to "Knight Rider" and "Kath & Kim," Silverman has championed "Crusoe," an action-adventure spin on the classic tale, and "My Own Worst Enemy," starring Christian Slater, about a man who leads two lives and is at war with himself. Last month, with production well underway, NBC hired a new producer for "Worst Enemy."

"That's never a good sign," said Jason Maltby, president of national broadcast for MindShare, an ad-buying agency.

"If you look at NBC's fall schedule, it doesn't seem like they have anything that will break out."

Maltby noted that, because last winter's writers strike delayed development for the fall season, NBC was bringing back middling shows such as "Life" and "Lipstick Jungle" that might have been axed in a more typical year. NBC has promised to preview its new series to advertisers, but with only weeks left before they premiere, advertisers are still waiting.

"They have the most potential of any network, but that potential could go in either direction," Scardino said. "It could either be fascinating to watch a whole new way of doing business -- or it could be the fascination of seeing a car crash."

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meg.james@latimes.com