Peter Grad, one-time head of 20th Century Fox Television, said that Silverman was "the most difficult man I've ever met in the business." Through his incessant interference, he alienated the creative people even more.
Silverman also estranged his own staff with his hands-on involvement in everything. He could not delegate. Staff morale suffered. Even top executives had no job security. During Silverman's tenure 84 executives ranked vice president or above either quit or were fired.
NBC did encounter some bad luck when Jimmy Carter boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. NBC lost not only all of the potential revenues that the games would undoubtedly have brought in but also the chance to promote the upcoming fall schedule. Silverman had counted on the games to serve this purpose. Further, there were strikes by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists that summer which caused delays in production.
Another factor was working against Silverman--at NBC he had ultimate power. At CBS in the early 1970s, where he was responsible for many shows considered high-quality and successful, there was a large decision making channel involving William Paley, Robert Wood and a few o
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