Zucker Explains Why He Canceled NBC Pilot Season

Zucker emphasized that broadcast TV is "in the middle of a wrenching analog-to-digital transition marked by game-changing technological developments and profound shifts in consumer behavior, all of which demands a re-engineering of our businesses from top to bottom." To survive that transition, NBC would be producing fewer pilots per season -- maybe five or six, versus the usual 20 or so -- and is seriously considering jettisoning the "glitzy presentation we do every year at Radio City Music Hall" for the annual upfronts, Zucker said.

Pilots are inefficient, he said, and he questioned the usefulness of the upfront bash, though he was careful to say that NBC had not yet finally decided on whether to kill it. While repeating that Peacock remains "as committed to scripted programming as ever," Zucker noted that the usual return on pilots -- about 10 percent make it as a series -- isn't worth it. "Why not make fewer pilots, and have the courage of our convictions, and order series straight to air, just like we do on the reality side? That's what they do in Britain... and we keep importing their shows," he said.

Zucker emphasized that NBC would continue making pilots, just fewer. "There can be no hard and fast rules here, but we must show greater discipline in these new times." Regarding the upfronts, Zucker said: "We believe the big show is a vestige of the last decade. Every year the big question at the upfront new presentation of our new schedule is, 'How fast can the show be over?'