Kim Masters isn't letting newly inducted NBC programming chief Ben Silverman get off so easy. The Reveille production guru supposedly downgraded his role there to take the top gig at the Peacock at Jeff Zucker's begging, and yet Silverman is still very much in control of much of what's coming out of his company's pipeline — including projects that are appearing on other networks.

Says Kim:

Clearly Silverman is keeping his interest in shows that Reveille already has on NBC: The Office and The Biggest Loser. But we have come across several more Reveille projects that may yet find their way onto the network's prime-time schedule with Silverman in a position to profit because they were in the works before he started his new job. Interestingly, two had appeared to be dead before Silverman got the gig but have miraculously come back to life.

You might think that to avoid a conflict of interest, Silverman would not be permitted to play a role in deciding the fate of projects that would line his pockets. But you would think wrong. Silverman and his co-chairman, Marc Graboff, have confirmed to us that Silverman will participate in deliberations on those shows, though he won't cast the deciding vote. They say NBC Universal has procedures to ensure that what might look bad is really not bad. Or, as Graboff put it, even if the network cannot avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, "it avoids the actuality of a conflict."

"Appearance" and "actuality" are totally not the same thing! Just ask Bill Keller, or the Today show.