Zucker out; end of the cheap programming gambit?

In a previous post, IPBiz had likened NBC's "cheap programming" gambit to IBM's "wall of patents" strategy. [see

NBC's "cheap programming" gambit fails, but incrementalist patents survive ]

Now, Jeff Zucker, the author of "cheap programming," is out.

NIKKI FINKE writes in JEFF ZUCKER FIRED BY STEVE BURKE:

It has long been expected that, once NBCU switched out of GE's control where Zucker was inexplicably protected by CEO Jeffrey Immelt, the savvy Comcast brass would recognize how badly the NBCU topper had "Zucked-up" his job. (I scooped how, during Zucker's mishandling of the Conan O'Brien-Jay Leno Tonight Show situation, private emails went out from high-level executives at Comcast saying, "What a mess.")

But General Electric, a company that used to prize only excellence, kept rewarding Zucker's failures. Then again, Zucker was embarrassingly proud that he kept managing for margins, not programming for ratings. So NBC eventually stood for Nothing But Crap.


Of a trademark issue:

Instead, Zucker embraced cheap and schlocky reality TV that undermined NBC's quality brand.

Now, how about the cheap and schlocky wall of patents?