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It's official: This morning, General Electric potentate Jeffrey Immelt presided over the coronation ceremony naming onetime morning show visionary Jeff Zucker NBC Universal's Peacock King, a ritual that included the G.E. CEO's delicately placing of a crude crown fashioned from the freshly harvested skull of superannuated outgoing executive Bob Wright on his new entertainment monarch's famously bald pate. (A moment foreshadowed by Jay Leno's draping of a Trump fright wig upon Zucker's head at a roast two years ago [pictured], a puckish act for which he now would be executed.) In anticipation of this sacred occasion, the NY Times looks at the challenges facing Zucker in his new position, pointing out that while tongue-clicking detractors note that NBC's post-Friends tumble into the Nielsen sub-basement occurred on his watch, millionaires whose checks he signs are firmly in his corner:

"You would think from reading some accounts that this was a company literally going down the tubes," [Law & Order creator Dick]. Wolf said. "For a company going out of business, it seems to me NBC is generating a lot of cash."

He said he favored the selection of Mr. Zucker not just because of their friendship but also because "he's just a really smart guy, and people know I like really smart guys." [...]

That view was echoed by Ben Silverman, who has become one of NBC's biggest suppliers of programs, with shows like "The Office" and "The Biggest Loser." Yesterday NBC announced it had signed a new deal with Mr. Silverman that will give the company first access to all the programs his company develops.

Mr. Silverman noted that Mr. Zucker took pains to make sure the deal was announced as his personal decision, to underscore his Hollywood credentials.

"The guy makes decisions," Mr. Silverman said. "Sometimes that ruffles feathers in an industry that likes to be coddled, but as a producer I like that kind of transparency."

To further cement his position as the Peacock's Decider, whose hands-on, feather-ruffling leadership must be credited for all of the network's recent successes, Zucker is expected to order that all of the briefcases on Deal or No Deal be emblazoned with his image, and will install himself in a one-week guest stint as the show's shadowy Banker, seizing sole control of the lowball offers made to contestants in an attempt to enforce his own budget-conscious NBCU 2.0 mandate.