Who's Afraid of TV 2.0?

THANK YOU, AND GOODNIGHT

If you work at NBC Universal, beware the ides of September. Peacock staffers are sweating bullets over the impending release of what the company is calling TV 2.0, a proposed top-to-bottom reorganization of the network to streamline it for the Internet age. While NBC Universal Television Group honcho Jeff Zucker is pitching the project—recommendations are due mid-month, according to one source—as a visionary look to the future, staffers suspect it will be a merciless look at the bottom line. "Everyone is waiting for the ax to fall," says an NBCer. "There was a board meeting a couple of weeks ago, and the word was, 'How much can you cut for the fourth quarter?'"

"Zucker says we don't want to be like the music industry," says another staffer. Translation: "They want to squeeze money out of this place."