• The Hollywood Reporter, Friday, November 3, 2006 12:45 PM

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt held a candid talk earlier this week with its media division NBC Universal in which he declared NBC's days of broadcast dominance to be over, adding that the media giant must now focus on expanding its digital business.

"You know we probably overpaid for iVillage," he said, but was optimistic about the unit's prospects for growth, which he said could be "30% a year for as long as the eye can see." NBC Universal bought iVillage for $600 million in March--about the same price News Corp. paid for MySpace parent Intermix Media. He added that management was currently considering expanded relationships with YouTube and MySpace.

Regarding its broadcast business, Immelt said NBC might never reclaim the top spot in this shifting media landscape, but "whether you pick Fox or ABC, the business that's No. 1 will make 40% less than what we made when we were No. 1." As for the 700 employees who were let go a few months ago, Immelt justified the cuts as painful but necessary moves for the lumbering media giant to move forward.

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