In what Hollywood Reporter claims is Robert Greenblatt's first in-depth interview since taking on the job of NBC's chairman of entertainment in January, he sounds pragmatic and determined. Greenblatt reveals his desire to "revive the brand that used to exist, which is innovative, fresh, bold, original, upscale and groundbreaking at times." And, he says, the challenge of rebuilding something that's definitely broken was one reason he took the job: "I know that may sound counterintuitive but I'm not a good maintainer. I like to build or rebuild, brand or re-brand."He's also happy that NBCU head honchos "are very thoughtful, which …

The USA Network show "Covert Affairs" will feature a Budapest plotline that appears only on Twitter, backed up by videos, audio streams, photos and classified documents. Members of the Twitterverse can influence the plotline with their tweets, and Mashable reports that it will be resolved on an actual televised episode on July 12. The idea, engineered by 360i, was apparently inspired by the huge Twitter following of one of the show's main characters -- Auggie, played by Christopher Gorham.

Though Netflix seems to deny it, "Cable and Netflix are competing for the same eyeballs, the same money and the same TV real estate, and the fight is getting tougher by the day," writes Janko Roettgers on Gigaom.To support this argument, Roettgers presents evidence that includes a study showing that "Netflix users that stream the company's videos to connected devices are twice as likely to at least downgrade, if not outright cancel their cable TV subscription than they were just a year ago."

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' just-released global annual entertainment and media outlook, "over the next five years, both magazines and newspapers will enjoy large gains in paid digital circulation," Jeff Bercovici writes in Forbes. "But the revenue generated will grow far faster for magazines than it will for newspapers and climb considerably higher, even though it starts from a lower base." Bercovici does the math to conclude that the magazine "industry will actually see a net increase of $162 million in its circulation revenues," while newspapers won't see such a positive result.

"Digital billboards are a hot topic of debate around the U.S.," writes Brand Channel's Mark J. Miller in this report that leads with the news that Oregon's state legislature just approved a bill allowing digital billboards along state roads. Miller also reports on the status of DOOH media in other areas, including Dallas, which likewise just approved its use.

Women's Wear Daily's Zeke Turner takes a look at Mental Floss magazine, which "recently installed a former Playboy editorial director, Jim Kaminsky, to elevate the title and add readers."The pub is a great case study for the general magazine business because "it has a small loyal circulation; book and merchandise revenue that has kept it profitable for most of its life; no dependence on advertising revenue, and a Web site," writes Turner.

If you ever have to make (or write, or promote) a corporate apology for anything, read and learn from "30 Rock" exec producer Tina Fey's response to reports that Tracy Morgan, one of her co-stars and employees, had made hompophobic remarks in his stand-up act. Fey performed the near-impossible task of balancing humor with a rebuke. After calling out Rock for the "violent imagery of his rant," she said, "It also doesn't line up with the Tracy Morgan I know, who is not a hateful man and is generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person." But …

How can traditional big media companies deal with the fact that their digital properties fail to receive the dazzlingly large Wall Street stock valuations that new companies like Netflix do? "One option is to spin off high-value digital assets into separate companies or tracking stocks, which puts those hot businesses under investors' noses," writes Variety's Robert Marich in a piece on how to handle this challenge.

American Media Inc., owner of such pubs as National Enquirer, Star and Shape, has attracted one potential buyer -- private-equity firm Apollo Management, whose interest seems to be cooling of late, reports The New York Post's Keith Kelly and Josh Kosman. The two also note that AMI seems to be in better financial shape after emerging from Chapter 11 last year.

Warner Bros. and Lionsgate just laid off 50 and 10 workers respectively from their home entertainment units because of a massive drop in DVD sales. They join other companies similarly hit, including 20th Century Fox (minus 22 jobs), and Paramount Pictures and Disney, which are both expected to eliminate employees. The number of Disney workers is expected to reach 250, possibly by early next week.