NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker laid it out nice and clear during his opening keynote address at NATPE on Tuesday, presenting the company’s new approach to television programming.

“We are in the middle of a wrenching analog-to-digital transition marked by game-changing technological developments and profound shifts in consumer behavior, all of which demands a re-engineering of our businesses from top to bottom,” Zucker said in his keynote speech at the opening session of the National Association of Television Program Executives' 2008 Conference and Exhibition.

He went on to present NBC Universal’s new approach to TV programming, highlighting changes such as ordering significantly fewer pilots, around five or six, starting with this year; taking more projects straight to series, without pilots; and signing fewer development deals, among other things, Variety reports.

“We’ve needed to do this for quite a few years now, but there was no real sense of urgency behind it. Inertia kept things moving in the same direction, a gentle downward slide disguised by a strong economy and robust ad market,” Zucker said, referring to current factors that accelerated NBC’s change, such as the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike and the state of the economy.

“Broadcasters can no longer spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on pilots that don't see the light of day or on upfront presentations or on deals that don't pay off,” Zucker said, explaining that pilots are exceedingly costly to make and “are not even close to what the series will look and feel like.”

From now on, Zucker said, more projects will go directly to series, “those that our executives really believe in.”

“Why not make fewer pilots, and have the courage of our convictions, and order series straight to air, just like we do on the reality side? That’s what they do in Britain and we keep importing their shows,” he was quoted by Variety as saying.

Zucker emphasized that these changes are not an attempt on NBC’s part to reduce scripted programming. He added that NBC is heading towards a year-round programming schedule, where premieres are not limited to the September-May season anymore.

As to the mid-May upfront, the “glitzy presentation we do every year at Radio City Music Hall,” Zucker said it is probable that NBC will forego this industry tradition he described as “a vestige of the last decade,” replacing it with more intimate presentations with advertisers.