And the Winner at NBC Is ... a Tie

It's official! Jeff Zucker, President and C.E.O. of General Electric's NBC Universal unit, has announced that Ben Silverman, above, and Marc Graboff will both replace Kevin Reilly at the helm of NBC.

The two will become co-chairmen of NBC Entertainment and NBC Universal Television Studio.

Silverman and Graboff could be a match made in heaven. When Zucker chose Reilly to replace him as programming chief, he favored executive experience over creative know-how. This time Zucker isn't making the trade-off, instead delivering to advertisers the one-two punch of Silverman (creative) and Graboff (experience).

Ben Silverman is a major get for the network (and likely an expensive one). He's a seasoned producer and the creative force behind one of NBC's most successful properties, "The Office," as well as "The Biggest Loser" and "Ugly Betty."

Silverman is also responsible for bringing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and "Big Brother" from global markets into the U.S. He has Emmys and Golden Globes under his belt, and is the founder and C.E.O. of Reveille, a leading independent production and distribution company with whom NBC has a strong relationship.

But "creative types" have been known to come up short in terms of business acumen, so Zucker has hedged the Silverman bet by promoting Graboff, a veteran NBC Universal executive, to join him.

Graboff is a known entity at NBC, having moved up the company ranks to reach his current position. Before this latest promotion, Graboff was appointed this February as president of NBC Universal Television.

by Liz Gunnison

Photograph of Ben Silverman by J. Emilio Flores/Corbis