The groups who campaigned to get "The Book of Daniel" off the air are crowing that they were responsible for its cancellation.

The folks at NBC disagree. NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly offered a quick "No" when asked if he thought the organized campaign against the show scared off advertisers and led to its demise, even suggesting, "I think it is unfortunate sometimes when a campaign seems to have a bigger footprint than it actually does."

He does not, however, dispute that the network found it extremely difficult to find advertisers for "Daniel," a show about an unorthodox Episcopalian priest who regularly converses with Jesus.

"Look, we knew there was going to be a fallout because advertisers take a cautious approach to risky shows," Reilly said. "We've been through it before. Our competitors have been through it. If the show performs, we find that people get comfortable and advertisers come back."

He pointed to last season when advertisers dropped out of "Desperate Housewives" because there were protests — and were quickly replaced by other advertisers paying higher rates because the show was a hit with viewers.

That's not an isolated incident. ABC stuck with "NYPD Blue" despite advertiser skittishness the first season, and that show remained on the air for 12 highly lucrative seasons.

"You let the audience vote, and advertisers have a history of taking a cautious approach to risque material," Reilly said. "I don't know if you remember the (first season) abortion-clinic bombing on 'Law & Order.' We had advertiser dropout in the first batch of episodes. Eventually, if the quality is there and the audience is there . . . the advertisers come back in, and everything dies down."

The fact is that if the ratings for "Daniel" had been good, the protests wouldn't have mattered. These are people who are in it to make money. If they were worried about ticking people off, half their schedules would have to be replaced.

NBC wasn't exactly sweating the anti-"Daniel" campaign. Reilly pointed out that such campaigns have helped "generate more excitement" and "turned shows into hits" in the past.

"It's been tough sledding on the advertising front" for "The Book of Daniel," Reilly said. "And it's something that we anticipated going in and would be willing to weather if the audience, in fact, embraced the show.

"The hard thing is that the show is not quite pulling the numbers that we had hoped for."

Which led to its cancellation after only four of six episodes produced had aired.

NBC WAS SPOOKED by "Daniel" from the beginning — no matter how much praise Reilly heaped on the show.