Word: silverman
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...leaves; they were too busy sipping champagne. This was, after all, the year of Roots, the twelve-hour mini-series that earned the highest ratings in TV history and helped propel ABC to No. 1 status for the first time ever. It was quite a coup for Fred Silverman, ABC'S programming chief, and in 1978 NBC, which had slipped to a gentleman's third place in the ratings, hired him as network president. By 1981 Silverman had pulled off an even more spectacular feat. He had demonstrated that with enough hard work, even a TV network could...
Daytime is a disaster area at the network; the Today show and NBC Nightly News continue to lose ground to the competition; and NBC's prime-time ratings are still in the slough, with only one show in the top 20 (18th-ranked Hill Street Blues, which Silverman had commissioned from Source: MTM), and twelve in the bottom 20. Still, the network is attracting more trend-setting urban viewers with shows like the dramatic musical series Fame. This "narrowcasting" approach may win NBC an unusual distinction: it could become the first boutique network...
...allegations were numerous claims that the former part owner of New Jersey's Schiavone Construction Co. had consorted with Mafia figures, conspired in illegal activities and engaged in improper fund raising for President Reagan's 1980 campaign. Phase 2 of the inquiry began just seven weeks after Silverman had closed the books for lack of enough evidence to warrant an indictment. New accusations were raised that Donovan had met with known mobsters to arrange no-show jobs for Mafiosi at Schiavone work sites. Donovan consistently denied all the allegations, last week branding them "groundless charges made by nameless...
...Secretary's accusers were anonymous. The names of two witnesses were disclosed in the report released by Silverman at the end of Phase 1: William Masselli, a Genovese crime-family member who headed a firm that subcontracted for Schiavone, and his son Nat. Shortly after the investigation was reopened, Nat Masselli was murdered in New York City. TIME has learned that William Masselli shares the view of some police officials that his son was murdered because the report fingered him as a Government witness. Others are convinced that he was slain by fellow mobsters in a business dispute...
Many questions remain unanswered. Silverman explained that he did not pursue some leads indicating improper operations by the Schiavone company because he did not see a direct link to Donovan. Said Silverman: "My mandate was to investigate the Secretary...