Leno back to tonight show???

Truth. · Post by **Truth.** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:07 pm

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2 ... ight-show/

Truth. wrote:Conan has 5 years at the minimum before he would be replaced

terrible

Psychosis · Post by **Psychosis** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:09 pm

They should move Leno into Carson Daly's timeslot.

Truth. · Post by **Truth.** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:10 pm

they should move Leno into a volcano

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:11 pm

both shows ratings have tanked.

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:16 pm

Conan should bounce the fuck out and go to Fox and collect a fat ass payday in the process.

Nl5H · Post by **Nl5H** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:28 pm

Employee wrote:Conan should bounce the fuck out and go to Fox and collect a fat ass payday in the process.

that is a brilliant idea (seriously).

citizen · Post by **citizen** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:29 pm

In a statement, NBC said, גJay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today.

Truth. · Post by **Truth.** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:30 pm

Nl5H · Post by **Nl5H** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:37 pm

NBC is a fucked up company...

they smashed with Seinfeld and Friends and ER and other shows...

now they basically have whatever is good on Thursday...holding up the ship (or 49% of it since Comcast now owns the rest) and the late night shows. nfl on sunday night is a piece of shit - i mean really who the fuck hires chris collinsworth and expects greatness? They want to hold on to everything they can with that old legacy because they have no faith in anything new.

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:38 pm

Nl5H wrote:
Employee wrote:Conan should bounce the fuck out and go to Fox and collect a fat ass payday in the process.
that is a brilliant idea (seriously).

Before he renewed with NBC to land "The Tonight Show", Fox was offering him a ridiculous amount of money.

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:46 pm

i will never watch network television again, no less nbc if they do this.

no

. fuck zucker.

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:54 pm

that would be dumb. agreed about the volcano

hustler · Post by **hustler** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:41 am

גJay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today.

Simple Rock · Post by **Simple Rock** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 3:12 am

Nl5H wrote:NBC is a fucked up company...

they smashed with Seinfeld and Friends and ER and other shows...

now they basically have whatever is good on Thursday...holding up the ship (or 49% of it since Comcast now owns the rest) and the late night shows. nfl on sunday night is a piece of shit - i mean really who the fuck hires chris collinsworth and expects greatness? They want to hold on to everything they can with that old legacy because they have no faith in anything new.

Do you even know what you're talking about? Sunday night football does better ratings than Monday night football - NBC has the #1 nfl programming in most DMAs.

And comcast doesn't own shit, yet. It'll be at least a year before the deal goes through. And after that GE will still own a 49% stake.

NBC also has about 25 pilots in the works for next season. So it looks like they're sticking with the broadcast model.. which is what everyone was wondering about. Also since ben silverman left, they've been trying to renew their brand..

Truth. · Post by **Truth.** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:24 am

NBC is said to be considering a significant schedule change for its late-night lineup that would push The Jay Leno Show back to Lenoגs old spot of 11:35 p.m., according to The New York Times. The late-night revamp would put Leno on for 30 minutes, followed by Conan OגBrien starting at 12:05 a.m. and Jimmy Fallon at 1:05 a.m. (more details here). NBC declined to comment but released this statement: גWe have the best comedy team in the business. We remain committed to keeping Conan OגBrien on NBC. He is a valued part of our late-night lineup, as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers in television.ג
The stunning revelation comes amidst a flurry of Internet rumors over the last 24 hours that culminated with speculative reports about Lenoגs show getting the heave-ho. As a result, NBC took the unusual step of responding to an internet report about the future of The Jay Leno Show earlier today by saying גJay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jayגs show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve performance.ג Obviously, a decision on how to fix the networkגs ailing late-night lineup may be imminent now. In the meantime, the NBC brass will face the nationגs TV critics at its annual press tour gathering Sunday in Pasadena, CA, so the future of Leno and OגBrien will surely be addressed.
Concerns about Lenoגs fledgling talk show hit a fever pitch in November when Leno, of all people, told Broadcasting & Cable: גWould I have preferred to stay at 11:30? Yeah, sure.ג His sentiment was no doubt colored by the showגs declining ratings. Though his talk show debuted at 18.4 million, it dropped to 4.3 million in just seven weeks (nowadays, Leno is averaging 5.32 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49). Meanwhile, ratings are down for the post-Leno local newscasts in several of the networkגs top 10 markets, while Conan Oג Brien is routinely trounced by David Letterman a half hour later.

A__TRAIN · Post by **A__TRAIN** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:21 am

Miss the silly dumb shit conan did at 12:30

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Dids · Post by **Dids** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:26 am

Reading between the lines in I read in various industry things that were linked to other places...

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/nbc-i ... te-issues/

It's more than Leno is killing NBC in the 10 PM timeslot. They can't just shitcan him without paying 10s of millions in penalties as per his contract. Similarly they can't shitcan Conan without a 45M penalty as well.

What they can do is move him to 11:30, and shift Conan to 12:00.

Basically Conan gets cornholed because NBC made a retarded decision to put Leno at 10, and now they can't get out of it without paying through the nose.

Trademark · Post by **Trademark** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:56 am

Dids wrote:Reading between the lines in I read in various industry things that were linked to other places...

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/nbc-i ... te-issues/

It's more than Leno is killing NBC in the 10 PM timeslot. They can't just shitcan him without paying 10s of millions in penalties as per his contract. Similarly they can't shitcan Conan without a 45M penalty as well.

What they can do is move him to 11:30, and shift Conan to 12:00.

Basically Conan gets cornholed because NBC made a retarded decision to put Leno at 10, and now they can't get out of it without paying through the nose.

So, everything is going back to the way it was? How dumb, what are Conan's numbers like?

Dids · Post by **Dids** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:03 pm

Everybody's numbers suck, but I think there's an assumption that Leno's show is bringing everything down. One of the bigger reasons they need to get him out of the 10PM slot is that all the local affiliates are seeing their 11PM news ratings tank, because Leno is a horrible lead-in. I assume that also passes on down to Conan.

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:13 pm

conan's show is pretty good.. there's nothing to complain about there as far as i'm concerned. it just needs sometime to grow

nbc are fucked for even letting leno stay in the first place. he should've retired.. but he's a huge douche

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:27 pm

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/20 ... _nbcs.html

2. What would this mean for CBS's lineup?
If Leno returns to 11:30, Conan O'Brien agrees not to leave, and all late-shifting somehow goes off without a hitch, could NBC's late-night lineup once again beat CBS's like it used to? Instead of just airing opposite Conan for an hour every night, as he does now, Letterman would compete with Jay at 11:30, and Late Show's second half-hour (the dull part with the guests) would battle The Tonight Show's first, which usually contains Conan's strongest material. Also, the second-string Craig Ferguson would have to compete with Conan for a half hour every night. From a ratings perspective, NBC's is maybe not the stupidest plan we've ever heard.

Yeah! And with this rationale in place, it's easy to see why from a ratings perspective, initally placing Leno in his own slot should have gotten more people to watch him right?

I'm not buying any of this.

Nl5H · Post by **Nl5H** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:43 pm

Simple Rock wrote:
Nl5H wrote:NBC is a fucked up company...

they smashed with Seinfeld and Friends and ER and other shows...

now they basically have whatever is good on Thursday...holding up the ship (or 49% of it since Comcast now owns the rest) and the late night shows. nfl on sunday night is a piece of shit - i mean really who the fuck hires chris collinsworth and expects greatness? They want to hold on to everything they can with that old legacy because they have no faith in anything new.

Do you even know what you're talking about? Sunday night football does better ratings than Monday night football - NBC has the #1 nfl programming in most DMAs.

And comcast doesn't own shit, yet. It'll be at least a year before the deal goes through. And after that GE will still own a 49% stake.

NBC also has about 25 pilots in the works for next season. So it looks like they're sticking with the broadcast model.. which is what everyone was wondering about. Also since ben silverman left, they've been trying to renew their brand..

Out of those 25 pilots, a small percentage will stick and the ones that will be some reincarnation of what they had in the past. Like wtf is Mercy- a 2nd rate ER trying to compete with other medical shows. Its just bs man...

And about the sunday night football numbers-that is just statistics lying to you. Its by no means better. Nbc football should be number one-because people aren't at church on sunday nights, its on nbc (not like mnf on espn) and the timing of the game is right and not interfering with other shit. You may have never lived on the east coast in your life, but let me tell you watching mnf is fucking painful after a long day at work when it starts at 8:30-9 pm and goes well into 11;30 or midnight

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 3:21 pm

Did anyone ever sit through even ten-minutes of that show "Trauma"?

citizen · Post by **citizen** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 7:25 pm

this is actually happening right now, very weird

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:57 pm

Associated Press wrote:Conan may find door open at Fox if he bolts NBC
Jan 9, 6:26 AM (ET)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - If "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien decides to leave NBC over its proposed late-night lineup revamp, he might find a warm welcome waiting for him at Fox.

Fox respects O'Brien's talent and sees him as a good fit, a person at the network said Friday. The person, who lacked authority to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Fox was watching to see how the situation played out but that O'Brien remained under contract with NBC.

Faced with poor ratings for both "The Jay Leno Show" and O'Brien's show, the network is said to be considering returning Leno to his 11:35 p.m. EST slot and moving "Tonight" to midnight.

Representatives for O'Brien did not immediately respond to requests for comment about his plans.

ABC, for its part, indicated a lack of interest if O'Brien becomes a free agent.

"With all due respect to Conan, we like the late night hand that we are currently playing," the network, home of "Nightline" in the late-night slot, said in a statement Friday.

Many NBC affiliates have complained that viewership for their 11 p.m. newscasts have plummeted because Leno's 10 p.m. show is such a weak lead-in.

"I think Jay Leno's a great performer. He's just at the wrong place at the wrong time. There's nothing wrong with making mistakes. There is something wrong with not correcting them," said Bob Prather, president and chief operating officer at Atlanta-based Gray Television Inc., whose station group includes 10 NBC affiliates.

Lisa Howfield, general manager of NBC affiliate KVBC in Las Vegas, said Friday: "I'm excited to have Jay land back in late night. It sounds like a great lineup."

O'Brien, who left jokes about the situation to Leno on Thursday, didn't hold back Friday on "Tonight."

"We've got a great show for you tonight. I have no idea what time it will air - but it's going to be a great show," O'Brien said in his monologue.

O'Brien added later that he wanted to address rumors swirling about his show and Leno's, including one that "NBC is going to throw me and Jay in a pit with sharpened sticks. The one who crawls out gets to leave NBC."

Leno also focused on the proposal Friday.

"To be fair, NBC is working on a solution, they say, in which all parties" will be treated unfairly, he quipped in the monologue. "That certain NBC touch."

NBC's contract with O'Brien reportedly allows the network to move "Tonight" to 12:05 a.m. EST but no later, at the risk of substantial financial penalties. With a two-year contract said to be valued at about $28 million per year, O'Brien would have to think hard about walking away.

Leno's show has averaged 5.8 million nightly viewers since its fall debut, about the same number who watched his final "Tonight" season. By comparison, the season's top-rated 10 p.m. network drama, CBS'"The Mentalist," has an average audience of 17.5 million.

O'Brien is averaging 2.5 million nightly viewers, compared with 4.2 for Letterman's "Late Show," according to Nielsen figures. And the younger audience that O'Brien was expected to woo has been largely unimpressed, with O'Brien and Letterman's shows tying among advertiser-favored viewers ages 18 to 49.

Any change would probably not take effect until March, after the Winter Olympics on NBC.

Network executives have been talking with Leno, O'Brien and their representatives to work out a solution. Meanwhile, online reports about the possible changes prompted the network to issue statements of support for both men, while declining to commit itself to keeping Leno's show on in prime time.

The drama verges on a rerun, recalling the messy battle for "Tonight" that Leno and David Letterman waged in the early 1990s when Johnny Carson decided to surrender the throne. Leno claimed it in 1992, with Letterman becoming his competitor at CBS.

In November, Leno told Broadcasting & Cable magazine he would have preferred to stay with "Tonight" and would take the job again if NBC offered it. For O'Brien, the shakeup would be a snub.

"NBC has dealt with this talent in an unusual way, to put it nicely," industry analyst Bill Carroll said Friday.

After picking O'Brien to succeed Leno as the "Tonight" host, NBC took the revolutionary step of moving Leno to prime time to keep him from jumping to a rival network and to hold down production costs, since a talk show is cheaper to make than a series.

But affiliate displeasure grew quickly when Leno's show proved a poor lead-in for the local late newscasts that generate significant station revenue - and which depend on 10 p.m. shows to funnel viewers to them.

Trademark · Post by **Trademark** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 1:55 pm

I hope Conan gives them the middle fucking finger...that's a lot of money though.

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 2:04 pm

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/busin ... 8leno.html

NBC Wants Leno Back in Old Slot
By BILL CARTER
Published: January 7, 2010

Faced with the failure of the biggest recent gamble in television, NBC is shuffling its late-night deck one more time.

The network has a plan in the works to restore Jay Leno to his old spot at 11:35 each weeknight for a half-hour, while pushing the man who replaced him, Conan OגBrien, to a starting time of 12:05 a.m. Mr. OגBrien would then have a full hour.

NBC executives held extensive discussions with both Mr. Leno and Mr. OגBrien on Thursday about the future of the networkגs late-night lineup. One senior executive, who declined to be identified because of the continuing talks, said that the moves were still being thrashed out by the representatives of each of the stars, but that an agreement was essentially in place. There is no timetable yet to issue a final announcement of the plan because contractual details remain to be worked out.

The change, if completed, would represent a retreat from the networkגs strategy of replacing Mr. Leno, who drove גThe Tonight Showג to the top of the late-night ratings, with the younger, hipper Mr. OגBrien, then trying to save money in prime time by replacing expensive dramas with Mr. Lenoגs show at 10 p.m.

The moves are being driven by pressure from NBCגs affiliated stations, which have seen ratings for their late-night local newscasts plummet since September. That was when NBC began גThe Jay Leno Show,ג a prime-time version of Mr. Lenoגs old late-night show. Mr. OגBrien succeeded Mr. Leno as host of גThe Tonight Showג in June.

Though Mr. Lenoגs prime-time show has not fallen below the ratings guarantees that NBC gave to advertisers, it has averaged only about five million viewers a night. The NBC station managers have blamed consistently low lead-in audiences for much of the falloff in their news ratings ג and local stations rely on news programs for the majority of their revenue. The affiliates are due to meet with NBC on Jan. 21.

Mr. OגBrien, meanwhile, has had his ratings suffer on גThe Tonight Show.ג He has trailed the גLate Show With David Lettermanג on CBS by about two million viewers a night; Mr. Leno had easily been the winner in that time period previously. Mr. OגBrien has been more successful against Mr. Letterman among the younger audiences that NBC most wants to reach (because they are preferred by many advertisers). But he has fallen below Mr. Lenoגs ratings in the 11:30 time slot in every audience age group, even the youngest ones.

Both experiments were being keenly watched by an industry struggling with demographic shifts, declining audiences and escalating costs. A deal was struck last month to sell NBC Universal, the parent of NBC, to Comcast, and one person with knowledge of the negotiations said that NBCגs poor performance ג it languishes in last place in prime time ג was a driving reason for the sale.

Mr. Leno addressed the developments on his show Thursday night. גI donגt think there is any truth to the rumors,ג he said during his monologue. גSee, itגs always been my experience that NBC only cancels you when youגre in first place.ג

One result of the new configuration would be that NBC would still prevent any of its late-night stars from moving to another network to start a competing show. Both Mr. Leno and Mr. OגBrien have in the past been approached by ABC or Fox about late-night shows at those networks. One reason NBC took the risky step of moving Mr. Leno to prime time was to avoid having one of its late-night stars become a competitor, a situation that NBC came to regret when David Letterman left NBC in the 1990s to start a show at CBS.

But there are many possible complications, including the possibility that Mr. OגBrien could be offered an earlier slot at a different network, most likely the Fox network. Mr. OגBrienגs representatives reported that they continued to negotiate with NBC late Thursday evening.

For Mr. Leno, who made no secret that he was unhappy about being moved from גThe Tonight Show,ג the change represents something of a vindication, even if his crown has been tarnished by his 10 p.m. experience. Mr. OגBrien faces a more unpalatable choice: accept a demotion to 12 a.m. and stay on NBC, or leave for another network, thereby breaking his lucrative contract with NBC.

The exact terms of Mr. OגBrienגs contract are not known, but he is rumored to have built into the deal he made five years ago to stay at NBC a guarantee that he would host גThe Tonight Showג or NBC would owe a penalty of as much as $45 million. If his show continues to be called גThe Tonight Show,ג NBC may not be in breach of his contract, which could compel Mr. OגBrien to stay at NBC even if another network makes him an offer.

According to one senior NBC executive, his show will continue to be called גThe Tonight Show,ג even though it would ג for the first time in its more than half-century history ג not begin after the late local news. Under the plan being discussed, Mr. Leno would still host a show called גThe Jay Leno Show.ג The third NBC late-night star, Jimmy Fallon, has shown some promising ratings with younger viewers. He would then begin his show at 1:05 a.m., the executives said.

The revised lineup would go into effect after NBC concludes its coverage of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 28. NBC will pre-empt its prime-time and late-night lineup for more than two weeks to cover the Olympics, creating a natural break in which to make the late-night changes.

No NBC executive would speak on the record about the late-night plan. But in response to reports on several Web sites, including FTVLive and TMZ, NBC issued several statements Thursday, including one that read in part: גJay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jayגs show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates.ג

Mr. Leno seemed to relish NBCגs predicament at Thursdayגs taping. גAs you may have heard, there is a rumor floating around that we were canceled,ג he told his audience. גI heard it coming in this morning on the radio. So far no one has said anything to me. But if we did get canceled, it will give us time to do some traveling. I understand that Fox is beautiful this time of year.ג

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 9, 2010
An article on Friday about changes in the late-night schedule at NBC misstated part of the name of the show on CBS that competes with גThe Tonight Showג on NBC. It is גLate Show With David Letterman,ג not גLate Night With David Letterman.ג (That was the name of his show on NBC.)

Psychosis · Post by **Psychosis** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:59 pm

Nl5H · Post by **Nl5H** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:16 pm

1 of 25 of the new pilots that Simple Rock was talking about is a Jerry Seinfeld exec produced reality tv show...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/arts/ ... 7sein.html

Even Jerry Seinfeld has caught the reality-TV bug, though he is quick to note that גthis is going to be a comedy show; Iגm not interested in the reality of it.ג
Skip to next paragraph
Danny Moloshok/Reuters

Jerry Seinfeld will return to NBC as producer of "The Marriage Refs," a prime-time reality series.

NBC said on Thursday that Mr. Seinfeld, whose sitcom was a mainstay of its lineup in the 1990s, is returning to the network as the producer of a prime-time series called גThe Marriage Refs.ג

The new show is scheduled for the next television season, perhaps as early as the fall. It is not a sitcom but a reality series about funny marital spats ג with the emphasis on spats because Mr. Seinfeld and his producing partner, Ellen Rakieten, have no intention of doing relationship therapy on television.

גTV therapy never works anyway,ג Ms. Rakieten said, and she should know, having been a producer and executive with Oprah Winfreyגs talk show for 23 years.

Mr. Seinfeld himself came up with the idea for the show, which springs from the natural progression of his comedy. For much of his early career, including the גSeinfeldג years, he was single; his comedy was often based on the trials and tribulations of dating (close talkers, low talkers, women with man hands, women whose names rhyme with body parts, to name a few).

But Mr. Seinfeld has been married for nine years ג with three children ג and his comedy act after גSeinfeldג revolves around the vagaries of marriage and children. His strength was always playing the observational-comedy card and what he has been observing is married life. As he said in a telephone interview, גAny comedian will tell you marriage is a gold mine of comedy.ג

גNo one seemed to be doing this on TV,ג he said. גYou used to have גThe Honeymoonersג and classic shows like that. So weגre going to try to fill the void.ג

Originally, he said, he thought of the idea as a Web site. גI really did not want to do another television show,ג he said. But his wife, Jessica, saw the possibilities of a television series. גShe really picked up the idea,ג Mr. Seinfeld said. גShe wrote the treatment.ג

One reason: They had lived out the premise of the show. גWe were having one of these silly arguments, and a friend of hers happened to be over,ג Mr. Seinfeld recounted. גHe said he was getting a little uncomfortable and maybe he should leave, but I said no, he should be the marriage ref and decide on the argument.ג

In essence thatגs what the show is. Each episode will have a theme, Mr. Seinfeld said, like husbands who watch too much sports or, as he put it, גshirt shows ג she says he always wears the same shirt.ג

After capturing a series of couples having the same argument (on unmanned cameras the producers will place in houses in as many households as they can get to cooperate, Ms. Rakieten said), the show will bring them to the set where a panel of commentators will offer their own opinions on the spat ג humorously of course.

גThe marriage ref will be like the guy on the field,ג Mr. Seinfeld said. גWeגll have a telestrator, instant replays, different camera angles. Then the ref will make the decision. And it could be for whatever reason he wants. He could say to the wife, גYou had the better argument, but I didnגt like the way you said something.ג ג

The winner will be awarded some kind of prize and then, Mr. Seinfeld said, גWe send the couple out to dinner.ג

It will all be in good fun, he added, though it may also do some good. גI see it as a pro-marriage show,ג Mr. Seinfeld said. גIt shows everybody else is doing the same silly things.ג

Ms. Rakieten, no doubt matching the desire of NBC, said she hoped Mr. Seinfeld would appear on the show occasionally. גI have no plans to be on it,ג Mr. Seinfeld said. Then he added, גWeגll see.ג

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:45 pm

conan's friday night show was great. you could tell he was pissed throughout the monologue..