• Los Angeles Times, Friday, April 10, 2009 11 AM

Angela Bromstad took the job of NBC's chief programmer of dramas and comedies early this year -- the fourth executive to hold the post in 19 months. Now the pressure is on to revive the fourth-place network. Bromstad's first big test comes this week, when NBC premieres two new programs: "Parks and Recreation," a sitcom that borrows a page from "The Office" and "Southland," a gritty police drama about L.A.

One of Bromstad's early calls was to put "Southland" in the marquee 10 p.m. Thursday slot, and shuffle the lavish drama "Kings" to Sunday night. "Kings" had been championed by Bromstad's predecessors, but she had doubts that a drama about a modern-day king would work on network television. "The objective now is to broaden the network out, to give it a wider appeal," she says.

Overall, Bromstad's style is more reserved than that of her attention-grabbing predecessors, including Ben Silverman, who remains co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. "I have always tried to fly a bit below the radar," she says. "The higher your profile the more of a target you sometimes become."

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