Just saw that NBC has announced that it will indeed cancel Leno’s primetime show, effective after the 2010 Winter Olympics coverage begins in mid Feb.
Apparently they have offered Leno his old time slot back, but it dosent look like there has been any official announcement on what will actually happen.
It’ looks like pretty tasty recipe for hurt feelings and bruised egos all the way around, and is sure to alienate even more loyal viewers, with no real upside that I can see…
Can they really give Jay a 1 hour show at 11:35 and have Conan do The “Tonight” show at 12:35?
I can’t imagine that.
Leno show would be only 30 minutes unless Conan leaves NBC, then it’s 1 hour. Conan’s contract allows his show to move back 30 minutes.
According to TMZ (which has been dead on thus far), Conan has 3 options:
Quit the show and spend the next four years living in wealthy obscurity. NBC would have to payout his contract, which is something like $20 mil a year.
Go to another network. If say, Fox pays him $15 mil a year to host a show for them, NBC has to make up the difference for the $20 mil— so in that scenario, Fox pays him $15 mil, NBC has to pay an additional $5 mil for the remainder of the contract.
He can do the 1205-105 show and NBC will likely pay him the same as they had agreed to on the TS. NBC wants this option because Conan wont be taking away from Leno’s ratings.
I like the idea of #2, but only having whatever other network pay him $1 a year, so NBC has to make up the difference. I say, spend the next four years on Comedy Central or something, making bank, and having fun.
I’m not a lawyer but my guess is that if Conan goes to another network he can’t be paid $1 just to screw NBC. It probably depends on what agreement he signs when he leaves. He could choose not to work.
Huffington Post says his deal is $28 mil a year but for only 2 years.
I’ve asked this question on the SDMB before, but I still don’t have a satisfactory answer - does it really matter THAT much if the show is called The TONIGHT Show, or if it goes by a different name? I just can’t fathom audiences choosing to watch one show or the other just because of the title, rather than who is hosting it. I mean, aside from the set, the current TONIGHT show resembles Late Night way more than it does any of the previous TONIGHT shows. I take it the decision to move Conan to California was also made before the Jay Leno Show idea, so that he would have better access to Hollywood guests? I always thought that was a terrible idea, since Conan was great at doing east coast humor, and seems so out of place there. What the hell, lets move The Jay Leno show to 11:30pm and shorten it to 30 minutes, and move The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien both to 12m and back to NYC, where The TONIGHT Show originated.
I believe when Conan was picked in 2004 to take over from Leno they said he was moving to LA. Sounded like there was no chance he was going to stay in NYC.
There’s the prestige of being the host of “The Tonight Show,” but everyone I know always calls every late night show by the host’s name. I’d bet most people would be hard pressed to name the precise name of any show other than The Tonight Show. That name is important to NBC, as it bookends The Today Show.
Re. the name, I think it’s just a prestige and history thing…which is kind of nice, I think - as dollar-driven as TV is, the moments where they do something to acknowledge their history/heritage are welcome.
Tooootally agree about the need for Conan to come back to the East coast. He just doesn’t seem to fit in California, and frankly doesn’t come across as being too happy out there. I really think his show would be doing better (artistically, and maybe ratings-wise) if he were back East.
The name does mean something to people. Here’s Conan speaking about it after NBC announced Leno was going to stay with them:
I remember when people said “the Carson show” or just “Carson” so it’s not a new thing for people to call the show by the host’s name.
What’s with the blame Leno stuff? It was five years ago that NBC said Conan would replace Leno. Leno was done, finished, out the door. It wasn’t Leno who beat NBC into giving him 5 hours of prime time. If the geniuses at NBC hadn’t decided Leno still was still a valuable asset, he’d be headlining in Vegas right now.
From what I’d read over the past few years, it sounds like Leno wasn’t feeling like he was ready to retire. What NBC feared was letting Leno go, seeing him sign with ABC or Fox, then going on with a show head-to-head versus Conan (and likely clobbering him in the ratings).
Totally and completely off-topic, but it’s so weird reading this thread and people referring to the times these shows are on. I’ve lived in the Central Time Zone my entire life and grew up with the reality that local news is at 6pm for a half-hour, then various shows until 10pm (Prime Time starting at 7pm), then the local news for a half-hour, then The Tonight show at 10:30. At some point after I quit caring, they changed it so that the local news goes until 10:35. As far as I know, it’s still that way.
Do east and west coaster late night TV watchers really live on less sleep than midwesterners?
Yes, it’s always odd for us in the flyover states. In the Central time zone (when people used to rant about how certain things shouldn’t be on broadcast tv ‘in the FAMILY HOUR’ I’d think…but?? It’s an hour earlier here. What is FAMILY HOUR?)
Then I traveled to the West Coast. It’s a three hour difference from the East Coast. I expected everything to be at least two hours earlier in broadcast. No, they run it like it’s East Coast time. To me it’s bizarre.
Conan is getting 50% less than Letterman. That’s horrible, especially since they’re paying him millions. You don’t rake in big bucks to produce mediocre ratings.
The fact is Leno beat Letterman and Conan isn’t. Conan is losing to Nightline.
In places like Chicago, Conan was coming in behind Letterman, Nightline, and reruns of *the Simpsons *and Two and a Half Men. That is not good
November numbers mean little 'cause those are sweep numbers when ratings are inflated. Sweeps used to be important, now with instant boxes Nielsen uses they are a relic of the past and they don’t set ad revenue to any marginal degree, like they used to.
Whether Leno’s 9pm show is hurting Conan isn’t the point. The bottom line is you need the rating and the right demo to sell ads.
Conan largely appeals to college age students who don’t have disposable income. So if he gets 100% of that audience, those numbers are pretty worthless, 'cause college age kids don’t have disposable income. Especially in this economy.
NBC most likely will push Conan back and let him quit so they don’t have to pay him out.
In these economic times I feel little sympathy for any of these millionaires who lucked into a time slot and are now whining about making millions but not happy because they aren’t making the millions exactly how they like them.
I believe the Central/Mountain thing has to do more with the fact that there are a lot more types of jobs in those regions of the country (farming, etc) which require people to get up a lot earlier, while the coasts tend to be more 9-5 people who can stay up until 11pm watching their shows and still get their 8 hours.
And for the record, I haven’t watched ANY of the late night shows since this switch starting. I checked out a couple of Leno/Conan/Fallon eps here and there, but none of them are worth my time anymore, unless Tina Fey or Bill Maher are the guest. I DO still put on Letterman once in a while, but even he ain’t the same - at least I can still count on HIM for east coast humor though.
I’m definitely going to watch all of the shows tomorrow night and see what the hosts have to say about the situation. I get the feeling a sequel to The Late Shift is on the horizon…what’s poor Jay gonna do without Kathy Bates to stick up for him?
Well, I hope Conan had you Mid-Westerners’ loyalty - after all, for years on “Late Night” he was the one who celebrated midnight in your time zone’s New Year’s Eve! 
I’ve heard this IS precisely the desired demo for advertisers. College students may not have money NOW, but what they’re building is brand loyalty and at that age they’re still malleable. So they get the 20 year old hooked up with a free Mach 3 razor and they possibly have a customer for life. My grandfather has significantly more money but Gillette doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of selling my grandfather a Mach 3. He’s been shaving with a DE Safety Razor since he was in his 20s and will the rest of his life.