TVSquad

So, you probably heard that the NBC Universal empire will be expanding by one, once it has added The Weather Channel to its media outlets. On MSNBC this morning, the subs on Morning Joe were crowing about CEO Jeff Zucker, sucking up royally, and even hyping GE stock.

It was all really uncomfortable, obvious and out of place when you are tuning in for news, politics, some pop culture and get NBCU corporate cheerleaders in full pom-pom mode.

Okay, enough ranting; there is some news to report. If the deal goes through -- and it will -- Today weatherman Al Roker may be relocating or he'll be repurposed, becoming the face of The Weather Channel.

It's a rumor that's been going around Hollywood for years; heck, we even mistakenly thought this was going to happen last year. But now it looks like NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker has finally had enough and is replacing the president of NBC Entertainment, Kevin Reilly.

Over the weekend, Nikki Finke of LA Weekly reported on her blog that Reilly will be replaced by two people: producer Ben Silverman, whose company brought The Office and Ugly Betty to the U.S., will be in charge of the entertainment side and Marc Graboff, currently NBCU Television's West Coast chief, will run the business side. Bill Carter of The New York Times is also reporting on the change, but in a less definitive manner.

Last summer, I told you about a dispute NBC Universal was having with the Writers Guild of America over the webisodes they asked the creators of The Office, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica to write and produce prior to this season. It seems as if the WGA was a little cheesed off that NBC was asking writers to create these web-only vignettes for no extra compensation, and ordered the writers to stop working on them. NBCU filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over the union's order.

Well, the NLRB finally ruled on the matter, and NBCU came out on the losing end. Sort of. The board dismissed the case yesterday, ruling that there was no evidence that the union coerced or pressured the show-runners of those shows to not work on the webisodes. So, while NBCU technically lost, all they wanted from this case was for the WGA to admit that they didn't pressure anyone, which is what they got, according to Broadcasting & Cable. Another dispute between the two parties, about a "side-letter" agreement regarding web content, will be decided by a private arbitrator in late spring.

Even though it totally slashed its staff, NBC is upping its order of Dateline to three nights per week. Most notably, it's going to air in the slot where Friday Night Lights currently sits on Tuesday nights. Now, FNL fans probably shouldn't worry! Even though its ratings haven't been outstanding, NBC did order a full season of the teen football drama and promises it is committed to the series. The network just hasn't announced where Friday Night Lights will land, but previous speculation puts it on Sunday nights.. Dateline will also air on Saturdays and Sundays, once the NFL season is over. The new schedule begins Dec. 26th.

According to the New York Times, NBC is planning to shuffle its schedule for the New Year. The network has said that it wants cheap shows (reality shows, news, and game shows) in its 8 pm time slots and dramas and comedies at later hours.

Last month, Rich told you all about NBC Universal's plans to cut costs by cutting jobs. Seven hundred jobs to be exact. The first wave of cuts came last week, where at least 17 people were laid off from Dateline NBC. Most of those jobs were based out of New York, with a handful in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. There is also an undisclosed number of people who volunteered for the company's buyout package.

More layoffs within NBC News will come this week, with even more coming in the next year. According to Broadcasting & Cable, NBC Universal is slashing costs mostly at the NBC television network, while its movie and cable networks remain untouched. That means the news division is going to take the biggest hit because it takes a lot of people to cover the news. I guess we know where NBCU's priorities are. If it's anything like the newsrooms I've worked in, the most expensive employees will be told to take a hike and they will be replaced by cheaper people with less experience. Does the quality of the product take a hit? You betcha.

[Via Lost Remote]