Comments (20)

• Why would you have a network head on? This is kind of strange. Is the writing on the wall?

  Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2008 @ 12:01 pm  Reply to this post

• Nikki,

  We’d love you to fact check and follow-up on everything Ben says tonight.

  Thank you.

  Comment by anHonestAnswer — November 17, 2008 @ 12:03 pm  Reply to this post

• Should be as much of a fluff piece as the Fortune article that NBC paid for…

  Comment by fluff — November 17, 2008 @ 12:21 pm  Reply to this post

• Nikki, I will be looking forward to your post tomorrow!

  Comment by Bill G — November 17, 2008 @ 12:31 pm  Reply to this post

• I’m predicting that he’ll spin so fast he’ll drill himself into the studio floor.

  Comment by Furious D — November 17, 2008 @ 1:18 pm  Reply to this post

• I know Benjamin well. He is actually a nice guy. He gets back to you within 15 minutes if he knows you and it’s business. That said, I’ve never heard any horror stories related to him. All I keep hearing are put-downs because basically…he’s successful, young and good looking. That said, if anyone can dish on him not being a decent guy, please do.

  Thank you.

  Comment by anHonestAnswer — November 17, 2008 @ 2:33 pm  Reply to this post

• Agreed on the Fortune piece. Wow, Ben can put on crappy shows so long as the network makes money. Great paradigm for a network. No wonder I’d rather OLD shows on Hulu than the new junk that NBC is making these days. Oh, I just made NBC some money by watching old shows on Hulu!

  Comment by F. — November 17, 2008 @ 2:45 pm  Reply to this post

• If he can sit in that chair for the whole show, I’ll be shocked. Ben should have the nickname “The Snowman”. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

  Comment by Curt — November 17, 2008 @ 5:37 pm  Reply to this post

• Charlie will kiss his ass.

  Comment by ReelBusy — November 17, 2008 @ 7:01 pm  Reply to this post

• Ben seemed rattled at times,I think Charlie was far more prepared.AS a struggling studio ‘head’, I think he was over powered and never got his point across.

  Comment by Daniel — November 17, 2008 @ 9:25 pm  Reply to this post

• Wonder if Charlie can get Ben to admit the emarassing and obvious move he made by planting the Page 6 slur-piece on Katherine Pope in his (hopefully) vain attempt to keep his indentured servant, er, leiutenant Teri Weinberg’s job…..

  Comment by doubting thomas — November 18, 2008 @ 1:00 am  Reply to this post

• Ben Silverman is one of the execs left in this town who still cares about people and their visions.
  Talk to all the studio heads and see who lets you have the most creative control over a project or who will let you try something that’s never been done.
  And while he shows the up most respect for creatives he also saved GE 4 million$ last year.

  Comment by Rev — November 18, 2008 @ 9:11 am  Reply to this post

• I was actually at the lunch for Katherine Pope. Teri and Ben were quite the gentalmen.

  Comment by Rev — November 18, 2008 @ 9:12 am  Reply to this post

• He’s the Toby Emmerich of TV. High powered job with zero results yet can’t get fired because he’s a non threat to his superiors. The only question is whether you’d see Ben or Toby’s photo next to the definition of “Fail Upwards” in the dictionary?

  Comment by Anonymous — November 18, 2008 @ 10:16 am  Reply to this post

• Charlie will softball him like he does every other showbiz person on the show (remember the Ovitz interview?). Why is this guy held in such high esteem, he’s essentially Larry King plus a few actual facts in his head.

  Comment by alan k — November 18, 2008 @ 10:25 am  Reply to this post

• Was it just me, or did Captain Buzzword use the term ‘disintermediated’ more often than he blinked? And yes, Charlie was easy on him. I expected at least a couple of tough questions about the state of the industry after the Tartikoff clip. Oh well, maybe next time.

  Comment by Carnac — November 18, 2008 @ 10:57 am  Reply to this post

• Alan K? Alan Kanoff?

  Comment by anHonestAnswer — November 18, 2008 @ 11:20 am  Reply to this post

• Charlie Rose does not interview like Larry King. Charlie Rose is interested in the workings of people. Not the gossip. Not the conflict but the machinations of the creative process be it an artist or a businessman. He is the best!

  Thank you.

  Comment by anHonestAnswer — November 18, 2008 @ 11:21 am  Reply to this post

• Ben Silverman is absolutely brilliant and one of the most savvy businessmen of our time!! He knew Brandon very well actually…

  “Before graduating magna cum laude with a B.A. in history from Tufts University, he’d interned for Warner Bros. Domestic Television and spent a year in their Paris office. He zipped through CBS, heading up development for producer Barbara Corday, then followed her to New World Entertainment where “televisionary” Brandon Tartikoff spotted a kindred TV savant in Ben.”- http://www.cable360.net/programming/shows/23736.html

  Comment by anonymous — November 18, 2008 @ 4:55 pm  Reply to this post

• Ben aint going nowhere, 2 words Peacock Fund.

  Comment by Anonymous — November 21, 2008 @ 10:25 am  Reply to this post