NBC’s Tartikoff to Give Up Hands-On Programmer Job : Television: The 10-year veteran will try, among other things, to make the network a global supplier of TV shows. His lieutenant, Warren Littlefield, will take his place.

Brandon Tartikoff, the whiz NBC programmer who was instrumental in boosting the network to the top of the prime-time ratings during the 1980s, will give up day-to-day control of the programming department and assume the new title of chairman of NBC Entertainment Group.

Tuesday’s announcement, made during the annual television critics’ tour in Los Angeles, signals a major transition for the network. Tartikoff, along with former NBC Chairman Grant Tinker, was responsible for bringing the network back from the ratings basement in which it languished during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Warren Littlefield, executive vice president of prime-time programs and Tartikoff’s lieutenant programmer, becomes president of NBC Entertainment and the executive in charge of all programming except news and sports. Perry Simon succeeds Littlefield as executive vice president of prime-time programs, and John Agolia, executive vice president of NBC Productions, was given the additional title of president of NBC Productions.

Tartikoff, although expected to stay involved in network program decision-making, will turn his attention to ramping up the network’s in-house production efforts and trying to make NBC a global supplier of television programs. Tartikoff has also held the additional title of president of NBC Productions, the network’s in-house production arm, but the unit has yet to score a meaningful success despite numerous attempts.

The announcement took many in the industry by surprise. Tartikoff and NBC’s prime-time success have long been considered inseparable, and there was no sign that he wanted out.

But Tartikoff said that after 10 years in the job--a record in the business and a lifetime in the programming hot seat--it was time for new challenges. “I didn’t want to set myself up where one day I’m found at my desk keeled over my squares.” The “squares” are Tartikoff’s model of the network schedule that he carries with him everywhere and constantly rearranges in a jigsaw-like fashion.

“I found myself less excited than in the early to mid-1980s, and I didn’t want that to go on too much longer before not being able to operate at a fully enthusiastic pitch,” he added. Tartikoff, with a new contract--his third in the past four years--that carries him into the early 1990s, will now become more involved in the “big picture” of network television--namely, how the medium will retain viewers while facing ever stronger competition from cable and, on the horizon, satellite networks.

“NBC needs someone who can see the forest for the trees,” Tartikoff said. “Warren’s job is to do the 25 pilots with Perry, and my job is to figure out if we need to do 25 pilots anymore. With audience erosion and program costs going up, it behooves me to try and tackle some of those business issues.”

The promotion of the four key NBC Entertainment executives also comes when all three networks are preparing for expected changes in the so-called financial interest and syndication rules, which currently prohibit the networks from owning a financial stake in the shows they air and profiting from the reruns of those programs. NBC has been the most aggressive network in stating its intention to have a major presence in this business, which the Hollywood studios oppose.

“We have to have a broader perspective,” said NBC President Robert C. Wright, alluding to the network’s desire to become not just a distributor of programming but a producer of it as well. “This frees up Brandon to focus on the relationship between programming and production. That’s the most critical area.”

A pertinent example is NBC’s new fall show, “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” which stars rap musician Will Smith. Written by the comedy team of Andy and Susan Borowitz, the series is considered the network’s hot entry for the fall schedule and is co-produced by NBC Productions. The network is eager to attract other top-flight writers and producers who, until recently, have held exclusive contracts with the major studios.

If “Fresh Prince” stays on the air long enough, the network will be able to profit handsomely by selling the reruns to local TV stations. Under current government regulations, networks are severely hampered in earning rerun profits. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to rule on the issue by year-end.

Littlefield’s current contract with NBC expires Aug. 1, and the new one, like Tartikoff’s, carries him through the early 1990s. There were offers to go elsewhere, Littlefield said, but “I verbalized my goals, and those goals were to stay at NBC.” He has been given contractual assurances that he will be in charge of NBC Entertainment.

“The only way I would take on this role is if I would have the authority to run NBC Entertainment, which has been given to me,” Littlefield said.

“Warren has been there the whole way, and all of us in the creative community have worked with him very closely,” said Steven J. Cannell, the producer-writer behind such NBC hits as “The A Team” and “Miami Vice.” But he said he also expected that Tartikoff “will still have a lot to say about creative things inside the network.”

In many ways, Littlefield has the least enviable job in Hollywood: following in the footsteps of the greatest network programmer since the legendary Fred Silverman.

NBC’s profit margin has been slipping because of a weakening performance in prime time and alleged problems with the Nielsen ratings system. The network estimates a revenue shortfall of about $200 million this year, which means it will not achieve its record $500 million in profits achieved last year.

Littlefield says that he will solicit Tartikoff’s opinion about development and scheduling. “I would be foolish not to take advantage of that.” But Littlefield adds that Tartikoff will not be as involved in programming meetings with producers as he was in the past.

“The analogy is the way it worked with Brandon when Grant was around. Brandon had the authority to run the entertainment division, but if there was an important decision, and he felt it merited it, then Grant would sometimes get involved. This will be the same.”