ABC chief Steve McPherson isn’t rubbing his hands in glee over NBC’s recent troubles — and he’s not running to land Conan O’Brien, either.
After 48 hours of TCA drama, things were considerably calmer at McPherson’s session with reporters Tuesday. Other than announcing the early pickup of his Wednesday comedies, McPherson’s session was relatively news-free.
Not that anybody at the network was complaining.
On the matter of Conan, McPherson reiterated ABC’s public position that the network’s cool with (Jimmy) Kimmel.
"We don’t have any plans to change our latenight right now," he said.
Later, when asked if there was any chance ABC would move Kimmel to make room for O’Brien, McPherson was unequivocal: "No," he said.
McPherson did say ABC would soon launch a new marketing campaign to boost Kimmel’s show, one that focused on tying his show to the network’s primetime brand.
As for the oft-reported woes at NBC, McPherson — who’s not known to be a fan of NBCU chief Jeff Zucker — checked himself, resisting the urge to take any shots at the Peacock.
"Seeing a great network tumble is not something we rejoice over," he said, adding that it’s "disconcerting when these things happen" and that all networks benefit from a "vibrant" market.
"It’s like playing for the Yankees and the Red Sox suddenly decide not to play," McPherson said.
