NBC's Jeff Zucker: "It's really not just about the ratings anymore." Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?

So this is the first day of upfront week, but not a lot happened, since it's NBC's day and NBC announced its schedule from fall 2008 through summer 2009 last month (it's already tweaking things, but never mind about that).

So here's what NBC did do today:

* Announce, as expected, that Jimmy Fallon will replace Conan O'Brien on "Late Night" in 2009. Trumpeted the press release: "Jimmy is more than just a likeable guy and a great comedian, he is genuinely interested in what people have to say."

* Announce a new reality-competition-dating show from the criminally underworked Ryan Seacrest: "Momma's Boys," about "a group of mothers who must help choose the perfect bride for their complacent sons ... Conflict results when numerous mothers and their eligible bachelor sons are housed together with several 'brides-to-be.' As the tension mounts, viewers will watch the controlling mothers search for their son's perfect mate." Or won't watch, as the case may be. But more: "Some of the possible brides are 'nice girls' - while others might not be as appealing to the mothers. As expected, rivalries are formed, drama mounts and emotion builds as crucial choices must be made."

So - this is "The Bachelor," only the mother picks the woman for her "complacent" son? No "Bachelor" has ever tied the knot, but that track record will seem positively honorable compared to this show's.

Seacrest ponied up the requisite press-release quote: "I am a true Momma's Boy. She is the most important woman in my life [way to stoke those rumors, Ryan!] and she is never short of opinions. This series throws Mom right in the middle of all the drama. It's loud, it's wild and it's real." Yeah, "loud" and "wild" is the direction you want to go in when making one of the most important decisions in your life.

* Announce a product-placement partnership with an automaker for its upcoming show, "My Own Worst Enemy," about a guy with a double life as a staid business- and family man and a spy. The spy'll drive a cool car and the other guy will drive a boring minivan or something and every driving scene will end with the car's grill stopping right at the camera so you can see the automaker's logo. NBC has a similar deal with another automaker for "Knight Rider." NBC is also in talks with the producers of their upcoming shows about Robinson Crusoe and Merlin to see if they can't work cars into a deserted island and Arthurian England.

Meanwhile, NBC uberlord Jeff Zucker spoke to TV Week about the future of television, and apparently, schedules and ratings aren't important anymore:

Zucker: "And it's not about the scheduling. I think this is the point that some of our competitors have missed. It was more about the dialogue that we began with these advertisers and agencies. In this world where it's much more complicated than just buying a 30-second commercial, the conversation is so much more complicated. The extra time to have these conversations has proved to be invaluable."

More Zucker: "(W)e're not going to knee-jerk change schedules just because the ratings aren't what somebody else expected them to be. It's really not just about the ratings anymore. It doesn't mean the ratings aren't still important. ... (W)e're managing for margin, not for ratings. So it's the expense of our shows, the consistency of our shows being on the schedule. It's not determined by the size of the ratings, because the size of the ratings of a show we cannot afford is not going to do us any good anymore. This is not because we do not have the outsized hits that we once did. This is because we are in a different environment where the difference between the first (place) and fourth (place) or second and third is incredibly minimal."

So NBC is arguing that if a show is cheap enough to produce and doesn't lose them money, they'll tally it up as a success, particularly if they're cozy enough with advertisers to stick some product-placement in the mix. NBC was the network that in the early '90s announced that it would no longer worry about total viewers but only those in the target demographic, viewers aged 18-49. The rest of the industry went along with them. Now, NBC's trying to change the rules again, but they're not exactly in the same position of power to get the industry to follow along this time.

We'll look at other TV issues confronting this week's upfront later this afternoon. Unless, you know, I die. Which I don't foresee happening, but you never know.