NBC bans THR after upfront rehearsal details exposed

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Some upfront drama—just before the season really kicked in: Deadline Hollywood reports Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd obtained confidential info about NBC’s upfront presentation at a NYC Hilton hotel by sneaking into the actual rehearsal.


NBC didn’t have any security keeping journalists away, so THR got everything from the 2010-2011 schedule (which NBC ended up releasing Sunday) to Alec Baldwin’s taped comic intro (as his 30 Rock character Jack Donaghy praising advertisers as “the bright shining sun in our money universe”), to Entertainment President Angela Bromstad’s strategy speech, to Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin acknowledging that the network has made some mistakes this season but is moving on with a stronger new slate, to even  the pre-prepared jokes.

Wrote Hibberd about what he heard: “Gaspin also jokes that having this year’s NBC upfront at a Hilton hotel instead of a posh theater allows him to gain some Hilton Honors rewards points. The downside to having an upfront at the Hilton is it makes it easier for a reporter to crash your upfront’s tech rehearsal.”

NBC has now banned THR from covering the network’s upfront or interviews or calls, says the Deadline Hollywood story. Needless to say, NBC is not responding to requests for comment.

RBR-TVBR Note: Look for RBR-TVBR’s ‘The TV Upfronts for the Fall Season’ Shari Anne Brill, Industry Analyst and former SVP/Director of Programming and Strategic Audience Analysis for Carat, is attending The CW, ABC, NBC, FOX, Turner, Univision Comm. and CBS TV Fall season Upfronts in NYC and reporting exclusively for RBR-TVBR.