How NBC’s quick fix turned into a quagmire

By MEG JAMES and MATEA GOLD

LOS ANGELES — Jeff Zucker was a fearless news producer and fast-rising entertainment executive who was just 41 when he became head of NBC Universal. But in the last few years, the onetime whiz kid behind the “Today” show — he turned Katie Couric into a star — has made several costly miscalculations that have led to a spectacular fall by the country’s premier television network.

Zucker’s troubles were magnified last week when, with NBC facing a revolt by affiliate stations furious over their sinking ratings, he decided to move Jay Leno back to late night after less than four months. The unusual measure was an acknowledgment that Zucker’s gambit to shift the comedian into prime time had failed.

NBC’s Leno flip-flop, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest debacles in television history, underscores how Zucker, who views himself as a maverick and a champion of change, now faces a decidedly different legacy. Instead of the mogul with moxie who transformed television, Zucker might better be remembered as the guy who plucked the peacock.

How Zucker found himself in such a fix is a study in how a chief executive, confronting wrenching changes to his business, reacts to challenges.

Now the network is bracing for more fallout: Will Conan O’Brien, who last spring became host of the storied “Tonight Show,” leave the network when Leno moves from 10 p.m. back to 11:35 p.m., as NBC announced Sunday? And will Leno remain content with a half-hour show, signing off at 12:05 a.m. to make room for O’Brien, if he stays?

Some veteran TV executives believe the Leno imbroglio ultimately could cost more than $200 million, including the damage inflicted on stations’ local newscasts, their ad rates and NBC programs, such as “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which lost millions of viewers when its time period was changed. They predicted that it could take years for NBC to rebuild.

Zucker declined to be interviewed. For much of his career, the 44-year-old Harvard graduate has been the master of the quick fix.

But though Zucker’s facile management technique was suited for running a news operation, it’s had different consequences on the entertainment side of the network, which Zucker took over a decade ago.

The potential damage to a TV institution, “The Tonight Show,” can be traced to a decision Zucker made in 2004. Assuming that the wry host Conan O’Brien was the future and Leno would be ready for retirement, Zucker agreed to give O’Brien “The Tonight Show” in 2009. At the time, it was a major coup for Zucker, the network’s programming chief who was angling to be the next CEO.

But as 2009 approached, Leno continued to triumph in the ratings and was showing no signs of slowing down. In December 2008, Zucker, fearful of losing a disgruntled Leno to rival ABC, wooed him into prime time, clearing the “Tonight Show” perch for O’Brien.

Associates said Zucker boxed the network into an untenable position because of his tendency to focus on short-term gains and concern for perception. In his eagerness to keep Leno and O’Brien from defecting to rival networks, he failed to anticipate the collateral damage a low-rated 10 p.m. show would inflict on the newscasts of NBC affiliates.