NBC & Leno vs. Conan

katiemac · Jan 7, 2010

The big news circulating all today was, first, that NBC is ready to cancel The Jay Leno show. After NBC squashed that rumor, Variety, THR, Perez and TMZ all are reporting NBC is ready to move Jay Leno back to 11:30. Based on what Leno said last fall, he'll accept the move back to 11:30 if offered. Leno itself is doing okay (but not great) at 10pm, but NBC and its affiliate stations are taking major hits in their news programming, which in turn affect O'Brien's ratings, and Conan affects Fallon.

There are, obviously, problems with NBC pulling the plug on Leno. First, after the Olympics are over, they have no shows to fill the 10pm lineup--but based on their pilot order for next season, they're trying to stock up. Second, cutting O'Brien means NBC forks over $40 million to Conan as part of the severance deal. Third, NBC doesn't want to hand another network--primarily, Fox--a ready-made late night host.

There are still other possibilities floating around, like Leno returns to 11:30, for a half-hour, while Conan pushes back to midnight. Or Leno cuts back to a few nights a week, etc.

I said earlier that NBC was shooting itself in the foot earlier with its Leno programming, and I have to admit I'm glad it's proving a problem. It's better for the future of scripted programming that this "experiment" is floundering. So, are we surprised? Sad? Happy? Don't care?

Ninjas Love Nixon · Jan 7, 2010

For a second there I had images of Jay Leno and all of NBC in furs and armour, wielding ludicrous hammers and circling Arnold Schwarzenegger while they demand he tell them the secret of steel.

BIG letdown.

katiemac · Jan 7, 2010

It may come to that yet. We can only hope.

maxmordon · Jan 8, 2010

Ninjas Love Nixon said:
For a second there I had images of Jay Leno and all of NBC in furs and armour, wielding ludicrous hammers and circling Arnold Schwarzenegger while they demand he tell them the secret of steel.

BIG letdown.

If they did that, they would have saved Jay's show by now.

MaryMumsy · Jan 8, 2010

I've never been a big Leno fan, although he seems to be a nice guy. Even less so O'Brien. I haven't really watched late night since Johnny retired. So all of this angst is meh to me.

MM

Art_Sempai · Jan 8, 2010

Looks like a win for Conan lol.
Fox would love it.

katiemac · Jan 8, 2010

It's confirmed, Leno's moving back to 11:30, with a 30-minute program. No plans for Conan yet, although more rumors say he's been given an ultimatum by the network: Move to the midnight-1 am time slot or leave.

Wavy_Blue · Jan 8, 2010

Blurg.

I much prefer Conan to Leno. Hopefully things will work out in his favor.

CACTUSWENDY · Jan 8, 2010

Question....30 show? By the time the commericals and his intro are done the program will end.

What in the world could he do in 30 min?

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 8, 2010

I enjoy Leno at his new timeslot. There's never been anything on at 9pm central that has ever interested me, but I watch his show every night. NBC has just been making all sorts of disastrous decisions with their late night talk shows.

katiemac · Jan 8, 2010

CACTUSWENDY said:
Question....30 show? By the time the commericals and his intro are done the program will end.

What in the world could he do in 30 min?

Speculation is that it would be monologue-heavy. Probably no guests, unless on occasion.

I enjoy Leno at his new timeslot. There's never been anything on at 9pm central that has ever interested me, but I watch his show every night. NBC has just been making all sorts of disastrous decisions with their late night talk shows.

The first of which was putting Leno on at 10, whether or not viewers are enjoying it (ratings are low). It's created a domino effect of poor ratings for the rest of their night lineup, including the news.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 8, 2010

katiemac said:
The first of which was putting Leno on at 10, whether or not viewers are enjoying it (ratings are low). It's created a domino effect of poor ratings for the rest of their night lineup, including the news.

I know. The whole forcing him into retirement thing. Just seemed odd. He was winning that time slot hands down over Letterman. Why would they mess with that?

Haggis · Jan 8, 2010

Do you mean that Jack Paar doesn't do the Tonight Show anymore?

Fox The Cave · Jan 8, 2010

Shame, i'm a huge Conan fan and was very happy for him that he got promoted to The Tonight Show.

Speculation is that it would be monologue-heavy. Probably no guests, unless on occasion.

Although I would love that, I doubt it. I think it's the guests that people really watch a show like Leno for; if this were Jon Stewart, then of course, but I think a very different audience watches Stewart to Leno. If they stopped having guests, I think Leno'd take a huge ratings hit.

Question....30 show? By the time the commericals and his intro are done the program will end.

What in the world could he do in 30 min?

It can work with both monologue and one guest I think - again, I refer you to the example of Jon Stewart.

roonil_wazlib · Jan 9, 2010

Fox The Cave said:
Shame, i'm a huge Conan fan and was very happy for him that he got promoted to The Tonight Show.

I agree. I was getting tired of Jay Leno's tired gags and I think Conan has that perfect off-beat sense of humour (which I know isn't everyone's cuppa). I don't understand why Jay retired (or they forced him to retire, so the rumour goes), if they were just going to bump the Tonight Show back and give him his old time slot again.

K. Taylor · Jan 10, 2010

NBC's not-so-long national nightmare is over. The network confirmed Sunday they've asked Jay Leno, whose months-old show has sagged in the ratings, to move back to 11:35 p.m each night. NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin told reporters Sunday that the network envisions Leno to bring the funny for a half-hour program before handing off to Conan O'Brien's 'Tonight Show' at 12:05 a.m. No deal has been struck.

The news was delivered at the TV Critics' Association (TCA) Press Tour in Pasadena.

NBC really should've left well enough alone in the first place. They had an extremely profitable late-night before this mess.

K. Taylor · Jan 10, 2010

Well, they're trying to cater to the affiliates now, is all. The 10pm show has been profitable for NBC, so just on that, they'd stick with the 2-year contract. It's the 11pm news affiliates that have been complaining since the idea was announced.

Leno's a really good interviewer, having a natural way to put most guests at ease, so I'd be sad if that wasn't a part of the 30-min show.

Honestly, there's still a lot he can do in 30 min. The guest usually doesn't appear on the 10pm show until 10:22 at least. If the monologue intro is short, then they can still do Headlines, or a Jaywalking segment, the guest, then it's done, and it's been snappy and efficient.

One thing I wish they'd do on the 10pm show is build the momentum of the ep over the hour, like the Tonight Show did. It's anti-climatic to have a great music act, then go back to a joke bit afterward. Some of the nights have been fun, but most have had weird pacing.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 10, 2010

Fox The Cave said:
Although I would love that, I doubt it. I think it's the guests that people really watch a show like Leno for; if this were Jon Stewart, then of course, but I think a very different audience watches Stewart to Leno. If they stopped having guests, I think Leno'd take a huge ratings hit.

To be honest, I watch for the monologue, and for the Headlines. I could care less who the guests are.

BenPanced · Jan 10, 2010

Just how many freakin' late-night ~~gag~~ gab fests does NBC really need?!

K. Taylor · Jan 11, 2010

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43583

“The Jay Leno Show’s” last day in primetime is Feb. 12, newish NBC Universal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin told the Television Critics Association Sunday.

"I can confirm that starting Feb. 12, 'The Jay Leno Show' will no longer air at 10 p.m.," Gaspin told the assembled journalists. "While it was performing at acceptable levels, it did not meet our affiliates' needs. My goal right now is to keep Jay, Conan and Jimmy as part of our late-night lineup. As much as I'd like to tell you we have a done deal, we know that's not true."

“Leno” is expected to shrink to half an hour and move to 11:35 p.m. following the Feb. 28 conclusion of NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage. Execs want the hourlong edition “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” to follow at 12:05 a.m., but that move is subject to ongoing negotiations with O’Brien’s representatives.

O'Brien's "Tonight Show" contract is said to run another four and a half years, with the host's salary something like $20 million annually. Word is putting "Leno" at 11:35 p.m. violates O'Brien's contract, and once Leno takes over the slot the network would be obligated to keep paying O'Brien for the next four and a half years even if O'Brien quits. NBC might be able to reduce its penalty by allowing Conan to work for Fox or another entity before his five-year "Tonight Show" contract is up.

Gaspin would not confirm that “Last Call With Carson Daly” would stay on the schedule if O’Brien and Fallon agree to the NBC plan.

It’ll be interesting to see how NBC fills its 10 p.m. timeslots between February and June. Lots more “Dateline”? Revive dormant reality shows like “Last Comic Standing”? Bring back “Friday Night Lights” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” early? Many repeats of “The Office” and “Law & Order SVU,” the network’s top-rated scripted series? (There’s much to suggest repeats of these shows would perform better than new episodes of “Leno.”)

Other NBC news:

* "Day One" has been whittled down to one day. The alien-invastion sci-fi series that became a miniseries is now just a two-hour TV-movie that will also serve as a pilot.

Seinfeld's take on the mess: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/wat...0_jerry_seinfeld_on_leno_obrien_shake-up.html

And possibilities to fill the hole: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/wat...2_nbcs_schedule_shakeup_what_about_chuck.html

SVU, unaired Trauma eps..

K. Taylor · Jan 12, 2010

Conan's statement: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b161703_conan_obrien_i_wont_follow_jay_leno.html

1. True or false: The Jay Leno Show was a bomb. Jay Leno answered this one with a joke in Monday's monologue: "I left NBC prime time the same way I found it: a complete disaster." True enough, last night's show scored a bigger audience (4.8 million) than what aired on the same night and time a year ago. (Remember Momma's Boys? Of course not.) And while Leno on the whole did drive away prized young adults, he didn't do anything that wasn't expected. He was supposed to be cheap and steady, and he was. The epic fail is on NBC for cooking up the idea in the first place. 2. What's the upside for Conan O'Brien? One, he probably won't have NBC kicking him around much longer. Two, ever since NBC let on it was pulling the plug on Leno at 10 p.m., he's been kicking around David Letterman in the overnights.

katiemac · Jan 13, 2010

Conan's not accepting the move back to 12:05. Unless NBC works something else out with him (or his contract is too rigid), he'll be leaving the network.

Justin91 · Jan 13, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
I enjoy Leno at his new timeslot. There's never been anything on at 9pm central that has ever interested me, but I watch his show every night. NBC has just been making all sorts of disastrous decisions with their late night talk shows.

NBC has been making disasterous decisions for a long time. GE does not know how to run a company where talent and creativity are at the healm...they are more interested in numbers and six sigma...

K. Taylor · Jan 14, 2010

People.com is reporting today that the Tonight Show with Conan might end new episodes on Jan 22. There's also rumor that Jay might walk, as well.

dclary · Jan 14, 2010

That would be awesome: have both hosts leave, and abandon their late nights to Carson Daly and Jimmy Fallon.

NBC & Leno vs. Conan

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