• by Paul Gough , March 2, 2004

Listening to Jeff Zucker talk to reporters Tuesday afternoon, you might be excused for thinking for a moment that this isn't a guy whose network is losing its powerhouse comedy and an anchor for its lineup for a decade.

Not that Zucker isn't mindful of the impact that the loss of "Friends" will have on NBC's schedule when it goes off the air in May after 10 years. It's just that he isn't as worried about it as he was a few months ago.

Like all the broadcast networks, NBC hasn't finalized or even green-lighted all the programs that it will begin during the 2004-05 TV season next fall. But it has one ace in the hole that it didn't have at the beginning of the year: Donald Trump.

Trump has been fodder for the tabloid press for 20 years, the stuff of New York headlines since the 1980s. But with the success of Mark Burnett's unscripted reality series "The Apprentice," Trump has become a TV star too. And NBC is banking much of its future on Trump's ability to draw as many viewers next season as he has this season, where "The Apprentice" has boosted Thursday nights against "CSI" and the Wednesday night repeats.

"The strength of 'The Apprentice' has changed the equation," Zucker said during Tuesday afternoon's conference call marking the end of the February sweeps. "I'm not trying in particular to diminish the loss of 'Friends.' It remains an incredible, potent force--the number-one comedy on television and the number three show on television."

He added: "But the fact is, we're picking up so many more hours of almost equally rated new programming that it's not the kind of hole that we would have been facing."

NBC is so confident about "The Apprentice" that it has ordered 32 hours for next season, the equivalent of 64 half-hour episodes of "Friends" and "Frazier," another show ending its longtime run on the network.

Trump has signed on for two more runs of "The Apprentice," which will carry the show through next season. Zucker acknowledged concerns that Trump was the driving force behind viewers' interest in the show, and said NBC was happy that The Donald has agreed to a second season.

Zucker also confirmed that both "Friends" and "Frazier" would conclude their seasons at 9 p.m. Thursday after one-hour preview shows.

At least one competitor doesn't seem to think that NBC is making a good trade with "The Apprentice" for "Friends" and "Frazier." But when asked, CBS chief Leslie Moonves declined to answer whether NBC was staking too much of its future on Trump.

"I'm not going to touch that question with a 10-foot pole," Moonves laughed in the CBS sweeps conference call a few hours later. But he said he liked CBS's position going into the new season.

"We think that without 'Friends' they're going to be at a loss," Moonves said. "The viability of 'Apprentice'--that's for other people to answer, not me."

Not that CBS doesn't face the potential loss of one of its own signature shows, "Everybody Loves Raymond." Star Ray Romano has said that he wants to move on after a seven-year run, although CBS has been trying to persuade him to stay on the air for another year. "Raymond" is one of the top shows on television.

"We're talking--which is good, which is better than not talking," Moonves said. "We're having a conversation. I can't give you a whole lot more than that. We're still optimistic--very guardedly optimistic--that we can hopefully come to some arrangement where they can come back."

Moonves said a decision could be announced as soon as the next two or three weeks.

He threw cold water on the possibility of a "Raymond" spinoff, although a show featuring Brad Garrett's character and his family had been discussed.

"I don't think we're going to proceed further, because we hope the show will return next year," Moonves said.

Moonves also didn't want to speculate on the future of the Tiffany Network without "Everybody Loves Raymond," although he said the schedule was strong.

"We need 'Raymond'--we want it back," Moonves said. "That's all I'm going to say."