Leno moves nightly to primetime

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

Wow. Not sure what I think of this.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

This will leave NBC with just 17 hours of "traditional" programming per week(!)

Considering how poorly NBC has done developing new hit shows the past two years (Bionic Woman,Knight Rider,et al.) this is probably a "win-win" for everybody involved:

1. Conan doesn't have to worry about Leno going to a competing network and possibly establishing a new show in the same 11:30 EST time slot.

2. Leno gets an energizing and innovative high profile new concept show with (presumably) a raise. And make no mistake about it: Even if he keeps his current format just the fact that the show will be airing in primetime makes it a new concept. (I would expect, though, that there will be some kind of different "variation on a theme" for each night in order to distinguish the "Monday" Leno from the "Thursday" Leno.)

3. NBC will be able to provide a stable primetime show even during the months of December, January, March, and April. Most major network primetime scripted shows air new episodes only sporadically during those months. It will also be interesting to see what this show does during June, July, and August.

4. NBC can now be much more selective in developing new scripted primetime shows. And if they develop a show that obtains good critical reviews but has poor initial ratings they can afford to be a little more patient in allowing the show to find its audience.

5. NBC will now have a prime time "anchor" to allow for the promoting of their other primetime programming. This year only Sunday Night Football was able to fill that role.

It's really going to be interesting to see how ABC and CBS counter program this time slot!

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I guess since "America's late night leader" can't do anything right in primetime, it's changing the rules of the game and extending "late night" into primetime...

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I dunno about this... Definitely seems like a stop-gap measure. It may work for a while over the summer, but come fall, I think it will dive in the ratings.

Since I don't watch Leno in late night, this just gives me one LESS reason to tune into NBC in prime time. As it is now, the only NBC programs I watch regularly are 30 Rock and Medium (when it returns.)

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

snorefest

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

Well, this will certainly sort out some of my 10pm DVR conflicts. I wonder how long it can last, though - ABC crashed hard after a year or so of filling their entire schedule with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. I also seem to recall that for as hard-fought as some of the late night battles are, the stakes aren't really that high - The Tonight Show's ratings are nice for midnight, but does that translate to prime time?

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

Interesting news - will be fun to see what the 10 pm version is like. Will Jay have to tone down his "wilder than Howard Stern" zany comedy?

The whole plan of replacing him was the dumbest idea in years- just look at the ratings.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I think this news is just pathetic. For the network to give up on prime time, and for Leno to not just go away quietly (like Carson did).

I also think it will really hurt Conan's audience. Who wants to watch a talk show, a half hour of the news and then stay up for ANOTHER talk show, with lesser guests? Leno in prime time will get the major stars for NBC, and Conan will get the same guests he gets today.

It should help Letterman.

I read Jeff Zucker's statement saying how difficult it is to program 22 hours and just laughed. The networks have given up on Saturday nights for years. Friday is just news programming or lesser shows. Sunday is football. That leaves only 4 days, 12 hours a week. Is that THAT difficult to fill?

The 1970's had 7 nights a week of programming. So did most of the 1980's. These network programmers must be really lazy and uncreative to pull stunts like this.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I think the show is primarily aimed at people that go to bed around 11 and don't stay up for The Tonight Show anyway.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

This is obviously a cost-cutting move by NBC but I think it'll backfire on them. Yes, Leno has a decent-sized audience at 11:30 - against Letterman and Nightline. How will his show do when it has to face real competition? If I were running CBS or ABC, I'd move their highest-rated show on 1 or 2 nights to 10:00. Make it that much harder for this to work for NBC.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

Ho-hum. Can't believe people still watch Leno at 11:30, let alone in prime time.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I think it's pathetic that anyone suggests Leno should go away. Why should he go away? Because he is #1 in late night?

Carson retired voluntarily after almost 30 years on the job. Leno (at least before this 10 pm thing came up) was basically being pushed out the door so someone else with lower ratings could have his job.

Pushing Leno aside for Conan is what is really pathetic.

Huge difference there!

Certainly Carson could have kept the job longer if he had wanted it.

NBC is not giving up on prime time. Leno is not going to be on 3 hours a night or 7 nights a week.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

First upward-failing NBC uni chief Jeff Zucker sticks Matt-Lauer-in-training David Gregory at "Meet the Press" so they'll have him for Today down the line, and then he gives away seven hours of primetime a week to rectify his poor decision to force Leno out of "The Tonight Show" at a ratings high. The real question at this point is: Will GE finally wise up and fire him, or will he only leave when there's no NBC left?

I don't think it's the worst decision to come out of this regime, but it's absolutely a consequence of previous failures that make late night numbers look attractive in prime-time. Since Zucker forced out Kevin Reilly (who brought the few hits NBC has had in recent years to the network), they've yet to find a scripted show that connects with audiences. By knocking the available time down to 17 hours (but essentially ten hours of high-profile time), NBC can cut its losses and consolidate the best of what they've got left into a leaner, meaner schedule. If nothing else, it will bring costs down.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

So will NBC cancel its Law & Order shows, which run at 10pm? Or does the entire lineup get shuffled, moved an hour earlier, and the weakest performing shows canned?

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I gather the only Law & Order that's safe is Special Victims Unit, which I imagine will probably get a 9pm slot somewhere; the original might finally come to an end, as its ratings have been sinking ever since CSI:NY showed up and there's an argument that bouncing it around the schedule hasn't helped. Or it might head to cable with Criminal Intent.

The May upfronts are going to be interesting for NBC this year, as either their schedule will be nigh-impossible to crack or there will be a complete bloodbath with nothing but SVU, the Thursday comedies, The Biggest Loser and maybe Heroes safe.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

They take what works from the existing schedule, move them into the 8-10 time slot, and cancel everything else.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

How long is the Direct TV/NBC Friday Night Lights deal for? I thought it was for more than one season. NBC can also plug that in somewhere next season at little or no cost to them. Plus, they could bring back Medium, which can still deliver decent numbers in demo, as well as a more upscale audience than a lot of their other programming.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

One thing I'm sort of idly wondering is whether Fox is looking at this and considering asking their affiliates how attached they are to their 10pm newscasts. I suspect ABC and CBS can expect a bump in their 10pm shows' numbers as folks not particularly interested in this variety of talk show go elsewhere, but is the void that NBC is creating large enough to be an opportunity for Fox?

It could also work the other way around: Mark Evanier posited on his blog that local stations may opt to move their newscast up an hour, especially on the coasts, and then run Leno's new show at 10:35. I wonder if NBC would allow/discourage that.

(Another idle thought: rather than just concentrating on Sunday and Friday, depending on the time of year, USA programs the 10pm hour with original programming, maybe including NBC refugees like Law & Order, and advertises it on NBC)

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

As long as Chuck is safe. I will be happy.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I know Conan was very gracious on his show last night, but he's got to be wondering the following:

1. How will he get guests? Now he'll be in LA with Leno. Instead of getting all the guests that Leno would be "handing over" by leaving The Tonight Show, those guests will still be going to Leno. Conan's Tonight Show will be relegated to second banana.

2. Can he truly be happy with having to move to LA in order to still play second fiddle?

Hopefully he looks at this as a long term win. I mean, Leno's show may not be around all that long and these issues will fall by the side. But Conan has to know that the potential for his first few years in LA at The Tonight Show have been seriously undermined.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

There is also Medium which has done well for them coming in at mid-season.

I don't like this situation. Here is a guess.

The NBC lineup - Mondays - Chuck/Heroes; Tuesdays - Losers; Wednesday - Law and Order shows?; Thursdays - comedies; Fridays - Deal and Dateline. Sunday - NFL/Dateline & Apprecentice (?). I guess if Kings does well and Medium continues to do well then maybe those will go on Wednesday.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

There was also no cable competition to speak of back then. The networks have trouble attracting decent talent because of constant creative interference. This is nothing new, but the fact that there is now an alternative for writers who don't want to deal with network suits means you don't really have to take it anymore. This is why they can't get successful scripted shows.

I can definitely see a scenario where Leno at 10 cannibalizes the Tonight Show w/Conan O'Brien, helping CBS and ABC tremendously.

Why don't they try giving Jay something on Saturday, which has been moribund since the end of The Golden Girls in 1992?

Can anyone name one thing Jeff Zucker has done that has benefitted the network? Even the abysmal late 1970s period gave the network a few hits.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

I'm guessing The Biggest Losers gets cut down to 60 minutes and SVU takes the Tuesday 9pm slot, and Law & Order moves to Wednesday at 9pm. Or - as they've threatened to do for the past couple years, but haven't managed because something else tanked and Dick Wolf's Law & Order factor is a well-polished machine - Law & Order is held back until after football season and Life gets the 9pm slot (or vice versa).

I also strongly suspect that Life and Chuck have to be feeling some pressure to improve their ratings right about now, and Bryan Fuller - who just signed a deal with NBC Universal with the aim of shoring up Heroes and creating a new show for NBC - has got to be in the same awkward situation as Conan O'Brien right now.

One thing I would hope NBC does is find a way to make The Jay Leno Show (or whatever it winds up being called) something very distinct from the other late night talk shows. Make it more performance-based, with musicians and comedians doing longer sets (15-20 uninterrupted minutes doing whatever they want within a TV-14 rating), or send Jay out to spend the hour at some interesting location (instead of having Jason Lee on to promote My Name is Earl, head to the set; go to the San Diego Zoo rather than have someone come there). Make it something other than just Jay at a desk, because (a) I don't know how well that will translate to prime time and (b) there just may not be enough of that for five hours a night, three on NBC.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

Bad idea on NBC's part but when have they been any good at making decsions the last few years???!!! They program Deal or No Deal more than one night, they cancel Journeyman and they didnt give a crap about Scrubs so they let that go.
I don't know anyone who appreciates Leno's humor. They would rather watch, myself included, Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert or Conan or Letterman.
I think Leno's humor is good for the masses who love reality shows and game shows.
My prediction is that it will be big at first but not that many people will watch after the first month.

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

if they had more shows like 30 rock they wouldn't be in this problem. i'd watch a comedy at 10

Re: Leno moves nightly to primetime

1. How does he get guests now, and how would it be any harder in LA? Aren't there more celebrities in LA? It would have been second banana anyways up against Letterman. See the ratings.

2. Who cares? If he can't be happy inheriting the Tonight Show and making tens of millions of dollars, he doesn't deserve to be happy.


It's funny how nobody knows anyone who watches Leno, yet Leno has been #1 pretty much the whole time he's been on. Somebody is watching.

My preference would be to leave the schedule as it is. Second choice, Jay on Fox at 11 or ABC at 11:35 doing similar show to now. But I'm not unhappy with this news.