Big news from this weekend and confirmed today is that NBC has conceded that it made a mistake with Leno at 10pm (9pm central). Shocking!
So NBC has decided to move Leno back to his 11:30p slot and give him a half-hour show. To mollify Conan O'Brien he gets a half-hour at midnight but gets the honor of keeping the Tonight Show name. Jimmy Fallon is just happy to be there.
This won't work and here's why. First, you cannot recreate the earlier success just like you cannot go home again. Moving Leno out of the Tonight Show was a move that never should have happened. Moving him back does not automatically mean his viewers will return. More importantly it doesn't mean Conan's viewers will stay. In fact, Conan's viewers are ticked. Shoot, Conan's ticked.
The best move for NBC is to keep Conan and Fallon where they are and let Jay go. Right now they've got at least two, if not three, unhappy talk show hosts. Firing Jay affects Jay but not Conan or Fallon. Plan B would be to allow Conan to search for greener pastures on another network -- like Fox where he used to write for The Simpsons. However, NBC doesn't want to compete with Conan nor have another late night competitor.
Who know how this will work out but one thing is apparent, it has not been handled well from the start. NBC has lost their late night mojo and may never get it back.
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Well stated, Mr. GM. I haven't watched a late night show in years. Stress, job uncertainity, and working overtime cause me to fade away between 9:30 and 10, if not earlier.
ReplyDeleteAre you surprised that (it appears as if) no one had a contingency plan if this didn't work out? I know that Conan's ratings have jumped during all the hoopla, but I can't see it as being enough to warrant keeping him in that spot.
ReplyDeleteJust seems like this could have been handled much better, than airing ones dirty laundry.
You are correct. This is a colossal failure. It is just bad management. They tried to keep three hosts happy; they tried to save money and they couched it all as innovation. The Tonight with Jay Leno will not return to it former high ratings. There is just too much animosity. NBC dug itself a few feet deeper in its programming hole.
ReplyDeleteThe GM