# Leno/Conan Shakeup at NBC **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073 "2010-01-07T21:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/261 "2010-01-13T19:39:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What we’ll never know is how well Conan’s show would have done if Jay’s show was not on at 10pm, draining guests, advertisers and viewers from it. Wasn’t that how it was before The Jay Leno Show premiered in Sep’09? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/262 "2010-01-13T19:56:59Z")
Here’s a blip from the [New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/business/media/12conan.html?ref=business) regarding legal issues: > [@](#): > > The contract, NBC is arguing, guaranteed Mr. O’Brien would be installed as host of “The Tonight Show” — and unlike many other deals for late-night stars, Mr. O’Brien’s contract contains no specific language about the time period the show would occupy, NBC executives said. NBC has said Mr. O’Brien’s relocated show would be called “The Tonight Show.” Also: > [@](#): > > The senior NBC executive said that Mr. O’Brien would no longer be owed any of the $45 million that NBC had agreed to pay him as a penalty in case he never got a chance to host “The Tonight Show.” That would leave the cost for NBC as whatever amount was agreed to as a settlement of the contract. > > The NBC executive said that Mr. O’Brien was making considerably less than the $20 million a year previously reported and put the figure at “closer to $10 million a year So it will be interesting to see where this lands legally. You know Conan’s lawyers are going to argue otherwise and the real question is what Conan’s out of court settlement will be ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bb73d2/32.png) [@Evil\_Jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Jon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/263 "2010-01-13T20:03:54Z")
NBC should put “Dealbreakers” with Liz Lemon at 11:30. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/264 "2010-01-13T20:04:24Z")
It would be awesome if Coanan went on Letterman’s show now as a guest. BTW, is this effective immediately? I mean is Conan not doing his show tonight? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/265 "2010-01-13T20:20:35Z")
It’s not effective now, Conan and Leno are still doing their normal shows. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/266 "2010-01-13T20:22:10Z")
Conan rejected NBC’s proposed plan to move his show back half an hour. The news outlets who say he’s quit the Tonight Show or left the network are really playing fast and loose with the truth. NBC could come up with a new plan to include both of them or just say ‘fuck it’ and pick one. But he hasn’t quit anything. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/267 "2010-01-13T20:22:35Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > It would be awesome if Coanan went on Letterman’s show now as a guest. > > BTW, is this effective immediately? I mean is Conan not doing his show tonight? Everything is supposed to change after the Olympics. Conan’s basically waiting now for an ultimate decision from NBC. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/268 "2010-01-13T20:22:51Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > It would be awesome if Coanan went on Letterman’s show now as a guest. Maybe Letterman can announce that he’s retiring in 2015 and he wants Conan to replace him. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/269 "2010-01-13T20:35:40Z")
Here’s my question about the Neilsen ratings thing that I really haven’t had an answer to: how do you get a box? How do they decide who gets them? I’m 23 and have never in my entire life seen or heard of any person or family I know having one. Ever. All the people I’ve seen posting online saying they have them, it’s actually the FAMILY that has a box. Plus, doesn’t Nielson break it down as the 18-48 range? That’s an awfully big range. What if boxes are handed out more frequently to people at the top of that range, thus skewing the numbers for 18-30 year olds. People say young people don’t watch TV. Is that really true? I mean sure, we watch a lot of stuff online, but how do we know young people aren’t watching Conan, they just don’t have boxes? [Articles like this](http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/13/obrien-might-still-be-at-1135-if-team-conan-had-watched-the-tonight-show/38787) annoy the shit out of me. There’s no way to know that all the online Conan fans aren’t watching- all we know is they don’t have Neilsen boxes. And again- how many single 18-30 year olds are given boxes? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/270 "2010-01-13T20:36:48Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > Maybe Letterman can announce that he’s retiring in 2015 and he wants Conan to replace him. Don’t fall for it, Conan! It’s a trap! I heard about that happening once and it totally didn’t work out! But seriously, I think it’d be hilarious if Conan became a regular (unpaid) on Letterman. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/271 "2010-01-13T20:39:59Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Don’t fall for it, Conan! It’s a trap! I heard about that happening once and it totally didn’t work out! > > But seriously, I think it’d be hilarious if Conan became a regular (unpaid) on Letterman. They could have a bit where he’s just doing things for Dave. “Here’s your coffee, Mr. Letterman.” _Sip_ “Mmm, that’s good coffee. You like coffee, Paul?” “Sure do, Dave.” “Yessiree, that’s good coffee.” ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/272 "2010-01-13T20:41:41Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > Maybe Letterman can announce that he’s retiring in 2015 and he wants Conan to replace him. I imagine Ferguson is expecting to take over for Letterman and I don’t think Conan would do that to him. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/273 "2010-01-13T20:41:41Z")
People are picked at random for TV and radio ratings. You can’t ask to get a box. I have done radio ratings a few times, I wrote it down in a diary. They are very careful to make sure all age groups are in the sample equally - they don’t want a bad sample. TV ratings are very scientific, a lot of money and planning go into them because a lot of money is at stake for ad rates and which shows stay and which get axed. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/274 "2010-01-13T20:41:44Z")
This proves once again that uncomfortable and unfortunate situations are great for comedy. I hadn’t watched the Tonight Show in I don’t know how long, but I saw last night’s and I’ll try to catch up on what Conan and Leno (and even Kimmel) have been doing lately. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/275 "2010-01-13T20:45:05Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Here’s my question about the Neilsen ratings thing that I really haven’t had an answer to: how do you get a box? How do they decide who gets them? > > I’m 23 and have never in my entire life seen or heard of any person or family I know having one. Ever. All the people I’ve seen posting online saying they have them, it’s actually the FAMILY that has a box. It’s a big country. It doesn’t take all that many families, relative to the size of the country, to get statistically valid results. There’s a misconception some people have that you have to have some significant percentage of the population to get valid results. That doesn’t apply when your population is huge. If a few thousand people are good enough in a population of a million, they’ll also be good in a population of 300 million as long as they’re chosen randomly. This article from 2007: [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20999951/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20999951/) says that they were planning on increasing from 12,000 homes to 37,000. It’s not surprising for someone to never meet anyone from a Nielsen family. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/276 "2010-01-13T20:49:36Z")
My mom had a Nielson box for a while. I dunno why she agreed to do it, since she hardly ever watches TV. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/277 "2010-01-13T20:52:13Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I imagine Ferguson is expecting to take over for Letterman and I don’t think Conan would do that to him. Maaan, what’s all this ‘do that to him’ jazz? Come on. This is business. We are going from cheering for our guy to get the slot to just getting all emotional an’ shit. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/278 "2010-01-13T20:54:42Z")
I should point out that I have a background in political statistical research, so I’m not ignorant to how the actual math of the studies works. I am fully aware that a small sample size is more than adequate to get an accurate picture of things. That said, my understanding just on what I’ve picked up here and there is that Nielsen readily admits that they overrepresent specific groups and underrepresent others in their research and are working to fix that. Good on them for working to fix that, of course, but the fact is that the numbers are still fucked now. Also, something that is harder to deal with is the inherent response bias of a non blind study. Not sure how to deal with that- maybe some deal with cable companies or something. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/279 "2010-01-13T21:04:48Z")
Not sure if this is still available, but in the early 80s I saw very detailed Nielsen ratings data at my school library when I was in grad school. Normally you would have to pay a lot to get that detail data but it was free for students. It’s probably all on the Nielsen website now but students probably no longer get free access . ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073/280 "2010-01-13T21:28:30Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > After Conan tells NBC today “Go F\*\*\* yourself” they are still going to keep him? He didn’t tell them that at all. He told them he wasn’t willing to move to a later time slot in a very mild and civil way. It’s showbusiness. He could have been way harsher and they still would try to keep him, because that’s all it is: business. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leno-conan-shakeup-at-nbc/524073.md?page=15)