Kevin Reilly came to NBC in 2004 from FX cable network and had a multi-year contract to be a president. He brought the shows "Deal or No Deal" (15 million viewers) and "Heroes" (14.4 million), which were the only hits of the network. But still the last season was very unlucky,
NBC had lost in viewers' age group and it had no Top 10 shows. "Sunday Night Football" finished number 13 this season with 16.5 million viewers.
This month NBC announced its autumn season. It will include low-rated and criticized series, such as "30 Rock," "My Name Is Earl" and "Friday Night Lights." The network also announces five new shows for coming autumns, including remake of "The Bionic Woman".
NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker said, that Reilly leave was on mutual and friendly bases. "Kevin brought us a number of fine programs and his legacy will be well intact," he said.
The new co-presidents will be Ben Silverman, 36, and Marc Graboff, 51. Silverman is an independent producer of NBC's "The Office" and "The Biggest Loser" and ABC's "Ugly Betty". Graboff is NBC West Coast President Marc and has been with the network since 2000.
About Silverman Zucker said, "He was looking to do something different with his production company and his career, and that made me realize that this is a guy who I had talked to about coming to NBC . . . and the timing had never been right. I acted quickly to see if this might be the right time for him."
Silverman himself was happy with this new position: "This is a dream job for me. This is what I've always wanted to do."
"Obviously one of our major goals is to turn around NBC's prime-time ratings performance, and I am confident that both Ben and Marc will lead us on that road," said Jeff Zucker. By Ruzan Harutyunyan for HULIQ
