Home Media Headlines Just in case you live under a rock…

Just in case you live under a rock…

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SFLTV.com comment of the day: “[18:40] meeboguest28622: I don’t know if SFLTV received news of NBC dumping Jay Leno’s show at 10PM, and moving him back to 11:35PM after the Winter Olympics or not. Hope that could be the breaking news that SFLTV.com is working on.”

Yes. Yes we are aware… and just in case you weren’t (and somehow live under a rock), FTVLive.com broke the story first on the Jay Leno/Conan situation.

38 COMMENTS

  1. This was a giant mistake NBC made by giving Conan the 11:30 spot. They should have just paid him the 40 million, or better yet, never put that in his contract. I predict its just a matter of time before Leno is back on The Tonight Show and Conan walks away, a rich man.

  2. Can’t wait till Brian Roberts is negotiating the contracts with these guys. Conan has some upside based on his writing past (The Simpsons!), but Jay has always been little better than a Catskills act. He may work harder, and I know his numbers were better, but in the long-term, he’s no Carson and no Letterman. There will never be another Carson; at least Dave always knew that and never tried to be.

  3. Chuck, but the bottom line is….Leno beat Letterman every week for many years. Letterman has been cleaning Conan’s clock every week. Ratings mean $$$$$$$

  4. The only problem was the affiliates throwing a fit over Jay’s low ratings. Conan was actually doing fine with the demos and NBC was doing good money with both of them. BELIEVE ME! NBC does NOT want to lose Conan but they will and I hope Conan does take control and head over to Fox. NBC tried to keep too much talent and it busted in their hands.

    Best thing that can happen now is Jay goes back to the Tonight Show, Jimmy stays on 12:35 and Conan starts a new brand over at Fox. Fox already caters to his demo and Conan can bring ’em over to the network. (18-34)

  5. Julian, Conan was not doing well in the ratings, Letterman was beating him badly every week, it was costing NBC millions! It will be interesting as I’m hearing NBC says they don’t owe Conan anything if he “quits”. My guess is they will workout a buy out in his contract.

    • I know Conan was losing the total viewers count, but he was in the game with the demos. Winning them regularly. The demos that actually bring in the money. NBC was not suffering with Conan on at 11:35. NBC isn’t even suffering with Jay on at 10 while he’s doing miserable in the ratings. They are actually profiting from a talk show in primetime.

      The only problem was the affiliates were getting ready to throw a fit and they don’t want to lose Jay.

  6. I’ve been saying for years, all the networks eventually will follow Fox’s lead and only program 2 hours of prime time nightly. Look, if NBC did this right now, don’t you think it might go a long way to pacify the affiliates? |Look, sorry about chin boy, we’ll move him to 11; you get an HOUR from 10-11 to sell with your late news; and move Conan UP 5 minutes to 11:30, getting a 5 minute lead on Dave and Nightline. Could it be any worse than what NBC has on their hands now? Brian Roberts is watching…

  7. Yes, 7 has news at 11, and I’m sure Ansin the chiseler will whine and try to push Conan back to 11:30 if he comes to Fox. Just because Ansin was so vocal about opposing the Jay @ 10 plan, he’s being praised in some places. Any schmuck could have told you it would fail. When’s the last time a variety show succeeded ONCE a week in prime? Craig Ferguson has been especially funny through all this. Don’t know how he would play earlier, but he is funny as hell.

  8. Craig is very funny, but I hear he’s the biggest bastard of all the hosts. No one will work with him, which might be the reason why he has no announcer and no band.

  9. I just spoke to someone who works for NBC and he said Conan’s contract calls for him to be host of the Tonight Show , but does not give a time slot, so Conan may be screwed if he walks away. Anyway, the late night jokes are sure getting a bit mean when they come from Conan and Leno. I hope, this doesn’t result in Conan being pissed at Leno as he really had nothing to do with it. He would have been happy to stay at 10 pm.

    • Yeah, I’m starting to notice Conana being a bit angry and mean with his jokes on Leno. It’s unfortunate but understandable if he completely hates the guy now.

  10. Dave, Jay, and Conan are all very entertaining these days. Their best stuff is when one or more of them is in the news and they’re all going at it like they are now.

    Considering what these guys pull in and how rich they already are, I don’t feel the least bit sorry for any of them. Their purpose is to make us laugh, which they’re doing quite well these days. When it’s at one of their expense, it’s even better. That’s entertainment!

  11. Joe, Jay gets paid about 29 million a year and the amazing thing is that he has never spent a penny of that money. He lives off the money he makes doing club dates every weekend. Can you imagine the 100s of millions this guy has, plus his car collection? Jay loves to work, with him it’s not about the money. In fact he never goes on vacation. When he’s off the tv show for a week, he’s working in a club. Julian, this is not Jay’s fault, NBC is making the changes not Jay. Jay has a contract with NBC and if they want him at a different hour, thats his job.

  12. The Tonight Show is now for sale on Craig’s List ! I kid you not, Conan is putting his best stuff out now and put the show up for sale!

  13. Conan showed the actual Craig’s list ad on tonight’s show. The ad also said “Will trade for Coldplay tickets”. Heh.

    Conan’s now getting his last licks in, and it’s just great. No matter what happens after the shakeout, late night will never be as good as these remaining weeks in January.

  14. Now it looks like Conan is out for a $30 million payoff. And NBC is left with Jay as they apparently wanted. I hope Dave takes this as a cue to stomp him once and for all. And I hope, as I have indicated a number of times, the folks at Comcast are taking a long look at this crap. It’s SOP for cable companies to clean house of management types when they take over a cable system, so pink-slipping Zucker et al should be no big deal when the time comes.

  15. Chuck, Conan signed a contract to host The Tonight Show. If they move the show later, he is still under contract to host it. If he walks away from it, that makes a really weak case for him. I think his only hope is to work out a buyout.

  16. I know this will come as a shock, but I listen to Stern quite a bit. He reminded me of all the crap Leno has pulled over the years, including hiding in the closet to eavesdrop when the execs were picking him vs. Dave. Remember, Jay’s lead-in before local news was Law and Order SVU, ER, decent ratings grabbers. Conan may have had a fall off but all he had leading into him before news was Jay’s crapfest. This all falls back on NBC, who lost the best broadcaster of a generation when Dave defected to CBS, and came up with a half-assed plan 5 years ago to avoid losing Conan. So they squeezed five more years from the old redhead. I will always be a Dave guy, but it’s hard to go against someone bright enough to hire the Boss’ drummer as his bandleader.

  17. NBC and Leno are to BLAME

    NBC for being Crazy and messing up the number 1 late night schedule

    HELLLLLLO

    you don’t mess with a sure thing

    I mean Leno got beat by Letterman at first also

    Give COnnan a chance to prove himself and support him and promote the HELL OUT OF HIM

    Leno be a man step down and let someone new have a chance to shine in the spotlight

    U JERK you spotlight HOG
    I mean Carson step down and let you shine

    I hope that NBC and Leno tank when he goes back to the tonight show

    I hope Fox snatches CONAN

    I will never ever watch LENO again you SLIME BALL

  18. Diego, for once you and I are in complete agreement. Bless you for making my day. To this day my desktop is an old photo of Carson and Letterman together on the old Tonight Show set. Damn…

  19. The reason why this is happening is…..the local NBC stations were complaining that Leno’s slot was bringing down their 11 pm news ratings. So, it tells you that NBC had to replace Leno. Leno is making 29 million regardless of if hes working or not, Conan is being paid about half that with about half the ratings that Leno had at 11:35. You do the math. You have 2 guys under contract that you have to pay no matter if they are working or not. Why not put in the guy who has beaten Letterman for 17 years, rather then keep a guy who has gotten his ass kicked for 7 months. BTW Leno was only beaten by Letterman for a period of weeks, not 7 months straight. It was still a close ratings race with Leno, unlike Conan who is getting his ass kicked.

    • Conan was and is winning the key demo race. Those are the stats NBC really worries about, those are the ones that bring in the money. Total viewers are just for bragging rights.

      NBC just didn’t want to lose Jay. They weren’t upset with Conan either – it was the affiliates fuss that caused them to do such irrational stunts.

  20. If….Conan was doing well in the ratings NBC wouldn’t be pushing Jay in the 11:35 spot. They would put him in after Conan, not before or work out a buy out.

  21. If Jay hadn’t tanked at 10, the lead-in Conan was receiving wouldn’t be so abominable, plus Jay trailed dave the first three years he was on. Obviously Jay is in the suckup club at NBC with Ebersol, Zucker et al. I keep saying, wait till Comcast comes in. Conan is not exactly my cup of tea, but he’s far more inventive than Jay. I thought of something really funny: now that Oprah is “retiring,” did anyone think of moving Jay to late afternoons? That would seem a better fit for where Jay’s demo is going. NBC is down to one soap, so…well, if NBC had competent management, we wouldn’t be having this discussion, right?

  22. Chuck, apparently alot of people thought Leno was funny, looks like your in the minority. He beat Letterman in the demos by over a million (some weeks 2 million) every week.

  23. You know how little I care about prevailing wisdom. Five years from now, you own’t remember a single Leno joke. Rosie put it best–his jokes are “predictable.” And he’s a backstabbing weasel. Also, Dave whipped him for the first three years head to head. NBC’s lead-in became better, plus Jay got the Hugh Grant interview. Also, Dave started from scratch at CBS. Jay inherited Johnny and did a lot worse with far more than Conan had the chance. And, I am sorry to see that no one has mentioned George Lopez. Some nights he is phenomenal.

  24. Chuck, Sounds like you really dislike Jay….Remember , this was 100% an NBC decision. Jay is under contract and is binded to do what they want. If they want to change his time, they do it. Dave “never” whipped him. Dave slightly had the edge in the beggining. The last dozen plus years Jay kicked David’s ass every week. Jay’s ratings were always stronger then Conan’s. Conan os losing by about 2 rating points every week. Five years from now, we will forget who Conan is, as Jay will still be hosting the Tonight Show.

  25. Chuck you are right about Jay getting alot of “firsts” in interviews. Jay was the 1st to get a current president on his show. He also was the 1st to have Mel Gibson on after his arrest. He also was the 1st to get Russell Crow on the show after his arrest after a hotel incident. Jay also had alot of other firsts , including Convay West ( did I spell it wrong) after his outburst on an award show too. Just another reason to have Jay at 11:35.

  26. Mitch, in context. Jay is to 7 as Dave is to…well, when 10 was home to Ann & co. Ratings does not equate to quality. I still think the final chapter in this mess will be written when Comcast starts writing the checks. All these corporate flunkies who incorrectly decided to hang on to Jay and his long-toothed demo group will be out on their tin ears. Conan, with his slightly smaller but better (younger) demo, will likely be at Fox making the storm troopers there very happy and wealthy. That’s the business they have chosen, as Michael Corleone was told.

  27. If Conan was making more money for NBC they would keep him. They are also paying Conan about half of what they are paying Leno. Its all about ratings and $$$$$ . Arsenio Hall, Chevy Chase and now, welcome Conan O’Brien.

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