Probably figuring the news media would appreciate having the weekend to plan their coverage, NBC Universal announced late Friday afternoon that its 2009 second-quarter profits were down 41 percent, owing in large part to an advertising slump for NBC and a string of box-office failures for Universal. But here’s the good news: None of the profit-shrinking blunders perpetrated over the past month can in any way be blamed on NBC wunderkind (and Vulture hero) Ben Silverman. Reports the Daily Beast’s Kim Masters today: “[Silverman] just returned after being absent for four weeks.”
Universal Sees Red [Daily Beast]
