I’m not sure why I’ve rooted for Zucker’s demise; I suspect it is mostly the arrogance that seems to emanate from him, but it is also my sense of him as the embodiment of the non-creative, creative industry manager. Although there are certainly many for whom this is more precisely true, Zucker never managed to balance a love for the potential of television with a love for the bottom line. Indeed, his job description only expected the latter, but the great ones have managed to do both. Perhaps Zucker has been the object of many barbs because he has so stunningly failed upward for so long—at least from the vantage point of those who respected the mix of artistic and commercial success NBC accomplished in the years of Tartikoff and Littlefield. But an end is near, and after a decade of waiting, I’m not sure it matters.

Does our attention to the rise and fall of Zucker unduly emphasize the role of network programming chiefs and other executive managers (in an era of conglomerated media it seems less a matter of title and more an issue of managerial style as those such as Zucker and Moonves have remained connected with programming decisions long after moving up the executive chain)? Many programming chiefs and network executives feature prominently in the received academic lore of television history. The Weaver versus the Bob and Bob years at NBC, CBS under Paley, Silverman’s near hat trick (most definitely not Ben), Tartikoff, Moonves, Zucker. Lost among these are many others; the more recent ones may still be recalled, but which will become part of the institutional history of the networks and of television, and which should? When I teach television history a decade from now, should I bother with Zucker, and what would I teach? Indeed, there are lessons about the undoing of a prestige network brand, of the shortsightedness of gimmicks such as “super-sizing” instead of innovative and thoughtful program development, of poorly conceived spin-offs, of many, many series kept on the air far too long.

Does Zucker’s tenure tell us anything about the nature of “management” of creative industries? I suspect not. Or at least to date I’ve lacked the imagination to conceive of their being meaningful commonalities that might develop into worthy theories of this complicated blend of creative and, well, practical work. For every Zucker, there is an Ancier (his tenure at NBC notwithstanding). And even more challenging, how do we research questions about creative managers in order to base theoretical musings on some empirical base? It is certainly one thing to play armchair programming executive—even with the benefit of trade press and industry gossip blogs—but to really understand the universe of options executives face and the interests they balance requires access I can’t imagine being afforded, at least for any study of the near-present. Perhaps this is why we know so much of 1950s programmers. Although again, what is the empirical basis of that work? How much came from archives and personal letters versus analytical assumptions of scheduling and programs (a question I don’t know the answer to).

Please enjoy a look at the Zucker years, this captures them remarkably well.

Many weeks after the rest of us realized The Jay Leno Show was a dismal failure and doing some serious damage to NBC, Jeff Zucker finally admits that the network has made some mistakes. No kidding.

In other NBC-Comcast news, this week’s “All Things Considered” featured an interview with University of Michigan’s Amanda Lotz, who gave her take on the deal and Zucker.

Along with climate change initiatives, several public, digital media projects debut at the COP15, including CO2 Cubes by the UN and The Copenhagen Wheel by MIT SENSEable City Lab.

Variety reports on the numerous TV series taking extended hiatuses between now and March, but the report seems to be missing one key reason for the delay. As TV By The Numbers notes, the article fails to address “what ratings juggernaut between February 12-28 broadcasters [might] be wanting to avoid.” *ahem*Olympics*ahem*

Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound, which is innovating a business model that tries to cash in on vinyl sales, emerging artists, and the music video format online, wrapped up another video this weekend. Solid Gold’s video for “A Matter of Time” was shot on a rooftop in Madison, and one of our editor’s was there! More on the Green Label Sound model, and being a “video vixen” in a subsequent post. . .

Over at the New York Times, Nick Bilton details his experience of escaping from the clutches of cables in his TV setup and the gadgets and configurations that (didn’t) help him do it.

College Humor posted a lengthy montage of front pages of the Springfield Shopper from The Simpsons that’s worth a gander even if you’re not an avid watcher.

BlackBerry signed a new deal with China Mobile to release smartphones and mobile internet service in China. This includes access to social networking sites as well as email. We’ll have to see how customized users’ connections really are.

An episode of Bones went a little crazy with the cross-promotion of Avatar on the program. Okay, so the episode is technically not from this week (airing December 3), but it’s worth mentioning.

And, finally, in the spirit of the season, please enjoy two holiday-themed YouTube videos. First, it is now the beginning of Hanukkah, so here’s a fan video paying homage to South Park’s version of “The Dreidel Song,” complete with fan animation. And here are the Muppets performing Carol of the Bells.