Nbc Television Network

Angela Bromstad is NBC's survivor. Two years ago, Bromstad, then president of NBC's television production studio, made what was seen as a suicidal career move. After losing a power struggle over control of the network's programming, she walked away from her job. Fast-forward to last November.

It's hardly a shocker to read the news that Ben Silverman is finally -- after a year of breathless speculation -- out at NBC, having announced that he is leaving his post as network entertainment chief to form a new venture with Barry Diller, a longtime Silverman mentor and perhaps the oldest living new-media mogul on the planet.

NBC Universal's announcement Monday that Ben Silverman is leaving the network after his two-year tenure did little to reverse its prime-time fortunes was one of the least surprising stories to hit the television industry in some time. What was unexpected was who broke the news -- and how. At 5:09 a.m.

Hollywood's awards season locomotive was derailed Monday when NBC pulled the plug on its highly rated Golden Globes, choosing not to broadcast on Sunday what promised to be a virtually celebrity-free ceremony. The scrapped program would be the first awards show to fall victim to the Writers Guild of America strike, and February's Academy Awards also could be in jeopardy.

REMEMBER when they used to gobble horse innards and other delicacies on "Fear Factor"? Ah, 'twas prime time's golden age. Blame it on the writers strike, but network TV is rushing to embrace cheap and sponsor-friendly unscripted programming that makes gross-out contests look like "St. Elsewhere." And leading the way is NBC, the network that for two decades staked its reputation on upscale, high-quality shows such as "ER" and "Law & Order."

Here's an example of the great and seemingly growing divide between people who write about TV and the executives who make it. You may recall that earlier this month, NBC foisted upon us a made-for-TV "Knight Rider" movie, based on the '80s crime-fighter series that starred David Hasselhoff. Reviewers were impressed by neither the movie nor the muscled-up Mustang that the hero zoomed around in. Los Angeles Times critic Mary McNamara described the program as a "two-hour (!

In the three years after she left her post at "Dateline NBC," Maria Shriver collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from the network as part of an exit deal, even as she pondered whether she could continue her journalism career while her husband was governor of California.

It used to be so simple. Want to watch the Olympics? Got a TV? Know where to find NBC? Or ABC and CBS? Flip on the tube, kick back on the couch and let the networks decide what you see or don't see. You didn't have a choice. Now comes Beijing 2008 -- and the choices are dizzying. NBC, having paid $894 million for the rights to these Olympics -- part of a $2.3-billion package that included the 2004 and 2006 Games -- is determined to get its money's worth via its own expanding media universe.

This should be a new dawn for "Nightline." Instead, it could be good night. After years of lagging behind dueling late-night talk shows, the ABC news program is winning attention with a series of high-profile scoops and closing the viewer gap against "Late Show With David Letterman." But instead of celebrating, "Nightline" staffers are anxious. Six years ago, Walt Disney Co. tried to lure Letterman to its ABC network, a move that backfired and frayed relations with the news division.

As recently as a week ago, a ratings gold medal for coverage of the Beijing Olympics might have looked beyond NBC's grasp. The average U.S. household has more than 100 channels from which to choose, and Games held in foreign countries -- as seen in Greece in 2004 or Australia in 2000 -- just don't tend to grab the attention of Americans like Olympics held closer to home. What's more, the yawning time difference between China and the U.S. makes it difficult to air big events live.