NBC

As one of Bob Greenblatt’s closest friends, 20th Century Fox Television’s EVP Jennifer Nicholson Salke had been rumored to be in line to join him at NBC since before he even officially started at the network. The deal between her and NBC is still far from being done, but it is expected to close. She would serve in an entertainment president capacity under entertainment chairman Greenblatt and may also have oversight of UMS.

America’s Got Talent continued its hot streak last night in its Wednesday night debut, boosting NBC into a tie for first place with Fox, the only other Big Four network with original episodes. Talent averaged a 3.6 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., its best non-finale showing on a Wednesday since 2006 and up 24% over last year’s Wednesday debut.

Popular Today co-anchor Meredith Vieira ended her five-year run on Wednesday, telling viewers her decision to go is “right, but it’s hard.” That decision was clearly hers alone. Seated beside co-host Matt Lauer, she has helped keep NBC’s Today the audience front-runner among network morning shows.

Opposite another highly rated NBA finals game, NBC’s The Voice and America’s Got Talent held up well in their second week together. NBC averaged a 4.2 adults 18-49 rating for the two programs, down from last week but still easily the night’s highest-rated non-sports shows. In fact, they’ll probably be the week’s highest-rated non-sports shows as well.

NBC has won the U.S. rights to the Olympics through 2020 with a $4.4 billion bid. NBC, now controlled by Comcast, won the bid less than a month after the resignation of longtime sports and Olympics chief Dick Ebersol in a dispute with the new owners. The victory extends NBC’s reign as the Olympic network in the United States, a period stretching back 20 years.

Fox Sports began the auction for Olympic television rights Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland, by offering to buy the next four Games starting with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. ESPN and NBC Sports will make their offers to the International Olympic Committee today, when a winner is expected to be declared.

Twitter chitchat and a team format are giving NBC’s The Voice a boost in the ratings.

NBC has begun writing “upfront” business in earnest, the last of the big broadcast networks to get under way in this year’s haggling, while Time Warner’s Turner has begun feeling out the marketplace with an initial but aggressive bid for pricing. NBC had been holding back in the marketplace, according to ad-buying executives, trying to see if it could secure CPM increases in tandem with the lower end of the range notched by rival networks.

With Fox having finished its primetime upfront advertising sales, Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce on Friday slightly lowered his predictions for the kind of upfront sales price increases that ABC and NBC will fetch.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — NBC is reviving “Fear Factor,” the reality show that boasted challenges ranging from daring to gross. “Fear Factor” aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 with […]

Former National Public Radio head Vivian Schiller, who left her last job under a political cloud, looks to have found a new position. She’s in talks to work at NBC News, where she’ll oversee digital projects.

It looks as though NBC’s America’s Got Talent and The Voice are a very on-key combination on Tuesday nights. Talent had its best-ever premiere among total viewers and lead-out Voice hit a series high in viewers despite airing against tough competition from ABC’s NBA finals. Talent averaged 15 million viewers from 8 to 10 p.m., up 21% from last year, when it faced the premieres of Wipeout and Hell’s Kitchen.

LOS ANGELES – NBC’s new hit series “The Voice” is getting the choice post-Super Bowl spot next year, the network said Tuesday. It announced that a special edition of “The […]

The Procter & Gamble and NBC joint venture Petside.com is getting a redesign that includes new features like Pet Places, an online and mobile database of pet businesses in cities around the country. The new site will have six new channels that include new community functions and new sections around pet nutrition, budgeting and living green, and blogs from pet experts. The site is also introducing a mobile app for iPhones and Android-enabled devices.

While it’s anyone’s guess when (or if) the 2011-12 National Football League season will kick off, NBC has already moved a significant chunk of its most valuable inventory. According to a number of sources, NBC has sold nearly half of its available Super Bowl XLVI spots, cutting deals with a number of repeat clients looking to protect their positions in the big game. Precise ad rates are unavailable, yet NBC is believed to be commanding rates above and beyond Fox’ year-ago average price of $3 million per 30-second spot.

The former SVP of comediy development at Sony Pictures Television replaces Jeff Ingold, who is leaving NBC.

With a herd of celebrity guests, The Office‘s ratings rebounded from a two-week decline following Steve Carell’s exit last month. The season finale of the NBC comedy was last night’s top scripted show, impressive considering The Big Bang Theory and Grey’s Anatomy both aired their season-enders last night as well, and finished behind only Fox’s American Idol on the night. Office averaged a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating for the one-hour episode at 9 p.m., up 18% over last week’s 3.2 and 12 percent better than last year’s finale.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said Thursday that Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBCUniversal bosses Steve Burke and Gary Zenkel have assured him that the resignation of NBC Sports & Olympics President Dick Ebersol does not alter NBC’s plan to bid on the next round of U.S. Olympic broadcast rights next month, a competition that is expected to include ABC/ESPN and Fox.

Under the network’s new “proxy” plan, it would receive 50% of the affiliates’ retransmission consent revenue in return for taking over negotiations. “Every affiliate will be treated exactly the same,” said NBC affiliate board head Brian Lawlor of Scripps.

NBC and its affiliates have worked out a deal that would see the network handle retransmission consent negotiations with subscription TV providers on behalf of its partner stations. The bulk of the pact, which has been worked on off and on for the past two years, was ironed out at the affiliate board meeting Monday in New York, the day of NBC’s upfront presentation. The “proxy” deal would be optional for affiliates.

Donald Trump told an audience of NBC advertisers at the network’s upfront presentation in New York today that he’ll drop his potential presidential bid.

Just three months after its new programming chief officially took over, mired-in-fourth-place NBC has unveiled a new primetime slate that been festooned with female-led series. On the other hand, NBC is relying on the behind- the-scenes production chops of Steven Spielberg, Lorne Michaels, Brian Grazer, Tom Werner, John Grisham and Peter Berg.

It adds Chelsea Handler’s comedy, Hank Azaria’s Free Agents, Bent, BFFs; renews Chuck; and cancels Law & Order: Los Angeles and Event.

With networks showcasing their fall lineups next week, no network has more riding on the outcome than NBC. The former powerhouse looks to be aiming to attract the young audience it was once known for.

NBC is developing a weekly newsmagazine to be hosted by Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. The show, described as “hard news with attitude,” is a contender for NBC’s fall schedule, which the network will unveil Monday at its upfront presentation.

The network will begin airing two-hour live episodes of the series on Tuesdays, from June 7 to June 28. The jumbo-size episodes will air from 9 to 11 p.m. ET, following America’s Got Talent, which debuts on May 31.

NBC begins its upfront orders with a Steven Spielberg musical drama, a crime reboot and comedies starring Whitney Cummings and Christina Applegate, all from sister studio UMS.

Peacock watchers, clear your Sunday: NBC will announce its upfront slate a day ahead of its presentation to advertisers. Though the network still plans the unveiling to advertisers on Monday morning, it will give reporters an advance look at the schedule in a conference call with new entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt on Sunday. It also gave reporters an early look at the schedule last year.

The network’s new talent show, had an audience of 12.6 million viewers for its second episode last week. That was up 7% from its premiere, making it the first new series on the four biggest broadcast networks this season to have more viewers for its second week than it did the first.

Five years after replacing Katie Couric as co-host of NBC’s Today, Meredith Vieira is following Couric’s lead and leaving her job. Vieira confirmed during this morning’s program that she will be exiting the show next month, after weeks of speculation over her future, to spend more time with her ailing husband. Ann Curry, the program’s longtime news reader, will take over as co-host alongside Matt Lauer

After protracted negotiations, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ board of governors approved the deal Wednesday night with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.

It seems broadcast finally has a hit new show this season. NBC’s The Voice grew even stronger in its second week following an impressive debut, becoming the night’s top show and besting Fox’s hit Glee, the evening’s No. 2 show, by 56%. Voice averaged a 5.6 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., up 10% from last week, when it became the No. 1 new show of the season. Voice also drew 12.4 million total viewers.

NBC is continuing Donald Trump’s television series Celebrity Apprentice after the New York real estate developer said he intends to run for president.A spokeswoman for the network’s entertainment division, Rebecca Marks, said “Nothing’s changed,” when asked about the future of the program. She declined to elaborate.

Ryan Seacrest is in early talks with NBC to do a music themed show. Unlike American Idol, the Ryan Seacrest Productions project is not a traditional competition show, nor is it clear that Seacrest would serve as host. At this stage, the potential series is in the preliminary stages of development, with the concept still being fleshed out.

Sunday Night Football commentator Al Michaels is presented with the lifetime achievement award at Monday’s ceremony in New York.