"Give the customers what they want" -- for more than a decade, NBC Entertainment chairman Brandon Tartikoff followed that ancient maxim with awesome consistency. Such small-screen phenoms as L.A. Law, Cheers and The Cosby Show entered American living rooms and hearts during King Brandon's reign, transforming NBC from a Johnny Carson joke into the industry powerhouse. NBC has led the networks in the annual ratings regatta since 1985, but this year's margin of victory (over No. 2 ABC) was as thin as a soap opera's plot.
Thus the credo "Quit while you're ahead" may have inspired last week's announcement: Tartikoff was...
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