Posted on 12/08/2008 5:07:22 PM PST by BurbankKarl
NBC Universal is in serious negotiations to give its 10 p.m. weeknight time slot to Jay Leno, a move that would secure the popular "Tonight Show" host's place at the network after he vacates his late night perch this spring, according to three sources close to the network. An announcement could come as early as Tuesday.
The move would address several major problems for the network, which is bleeding ratings and has failed to develop any new hit shows this fall, at a time when advertising revenue is plummeting. Under the proposal, NBC would only develop programming for two hours a night instead of three, saving considerable development and production costs. NBC, mired in fourth place among broadcasters, has seen its ratings decline 12 percent over last season.
The network has also been scrambling to find a way to keep Mr. Leno in the fold, years after it struck a deal to give Conan O'Brien, host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," the "Tonight Show" perch in 2009. Mr. Leno's ratings remained strong in the intervening time.
On Monday, NBCU chief executive Jeff Zucker told investors at an industry conference that the network was considering scaling back the number of prime time hours it programs as a way to save money. His comments came as the company laid off 500 employees as part of a projected $500 million in cuts to its 2009 budget. On Monday, the company merged its network and television studio to streamline operations and eliminate overlapping staff.
"Can we continue to program 22 hours of prime-time? Three of our competitors don't. Can we afford to program seven nights a week? One of our competitors doesn't," Mr. Zucker said. "All of these questions have to be on the table. And we are actively looking at all ..
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Jay could get decent ratings at that hour
The 11pm news would die off too....
a win win
The only thing that makes sense coming out of NBC these days.
Shoulda held out until Craig Ferguson became popular.
Zucker is willing to cannablize the local news and Conan for a cheaper bottom line.
But Jay really doesn't need the money now, too bad he will destroy Conan to help out NBC's failing program dept.
NBC’s scripted shows are doing so badly that this move makes sense. Given the choice between a primetime talk show and more stupid “reality” shows, I’ll take the talk show anytime.
They could just air extenze and girls gone wild infomercials after 10 pm
I don’t look at tv much, but one thing I will never watch is Conan O’Brien.
“I don’t look at tv much, but one thing I will never watch is Conan O’Brien.”
Personally, I think they both suck. Conan with a capital S...
Ferguson would run circles around all late night hosts. However, he tends to be a little on the “blue” side and the network would have to curb that, which would ruin his appeal. IMHO
Mark
Ferguson is a real talent. He can even make a fart joke seem new and original.
LOL! I would love to see his Vegas show. ;-)
Leno makes 25% or more of the profit for NBC. This is a win win....and it looks like its a done deal
I don’t get it. Does NBC think folks are gonna watch an hour of Leno, his jokes and guests and all that...and then stay up to watch an hour of Conan who will pretty much have the same thing?
Are people going to watch 2 hrs of talk shows between 10 and 12:30, 3 between 10 and 1:30?
NBC could probably save even more moeny by copying what FOX does with O’Reilly and give Leno his 10-11 and then re-air it at 11:30. Jay would still beat Dave.
If anything this hurts NBC because now people can watch both Leno and Letterman if they want instead of having to choose.
And I guess this means they’re cancelling Law and Order and SVU and all their other 10PM shows...or moving them to 9 and cancelling the 9PM ones.
Plus, it’s a real slap in the face to Conan. He’s named the successor and now he’s second fiddle again. He’s still overshafowed by Jay, whose new show will be considered the real Tonight Show by everyone even if it has a different name. It’s like if Carson moved to primetime in 1993. No one would care about Jay and his new show.
Jay is still the big cheese at the network, the guy in hollywood, the guy with the primetime show, etc... Jay may even be more powerful now. If you’re a big time actor or guest with a big movie or record or whatever, who will you want to go on, Jay or Conan?
I mean, if Jay really rakes in the cash I guess it makes sense but seems like they’ll hurt themselves at 11:30.
I guess you havent heard how many VPs they fired in the past 2 days?
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/nbc-fires-more-executives-today/
To me, this idea is pretty bold in its stupidity.
A month or more ago, it seems like I heard that Conan O’Brien wouldn’t be moving to the Tonight Show because Jay wasn’t going to “retire” from it. Heard about this the other day, apparently long after everyone else? Dinosaur media deathwatch.
Report: Leno to stay at NBC, moving to prime time
AP | 12-08-2008
Posted on 12/08/2008 6:36:52 PM PST by My Favorite Headache
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2145272/posts
Rob Long: Jay Leno, container ships and other economic indicators
morning call | December 23, 2008 | Rob Long
Posted on 12/24/2008 11:59:07 AM PST by george76
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2153901/posts
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