NBC ending Leno's nightly prime-time show

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PASADENA, Calif – NBC decided to end the Jay Leno experiment when some of its affiliates started talking about dropping the nightly prime-time show, its top entertainment executive said Sunday.


NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin said Sunday that Leno's nightly prime-time show will end with the beginning of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 12. NBC wants Leno to do an 11:35 p.m. show each night, a return to his old time slot, Gaspin said.


Gaspin has proposed moving Conan O'Brien's "Tonight" show to 12:05 a.m., and Jimmy Fallon's show would start an hour later. But the late-night hosts had not agreed to the move. Gaspin said he expected NBC's late-night situation to be cleared up by the start of the Olympics.


More details at link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100110/ap_on_en_tv/us_nbc_leno
 
nbc waited way too long for this move.
the ratings have tanked since week 2...........
are conan's ratings not good? if his ratings are fine i cant see why he should give up his spot. it's not his fault leno nearly killed nbc.
 
nbc waited way too long for this move.
the ratings have tanked since week 2...........
are conan's ratings not good? if his ratings are fine i cant see why he should give up his spot. it's not his fault leno nearly killed nbc.

No, Letterman has been beating him, and I thought I heard Nightline did, too, but not sure on that. Conan's audience has been younger, though, than either. But total audience has dropped quite a bit, I've heard several times.
 
I've been waiting for Conan to finally move to the earlier spot and now this. But I must admit, Conan lost his edge moving to CA. New York humor is so much more appropriate for late night TV.
 
It would not surprise me if Conan moved networks....it is not his fault Leno's show failed and hurt the network. I like both of them....

Business is business...I think this is a heck of a lot worse than when the network was deciding between Leno/Letterman for the replacement of Carson.

I hope Conan jumps ship...
 
I always found Conan OBrien funnier.

OH so did I. I felt Leno came on too early in my area and was rather stale at times. I don't know what Conan's ratings are. He is pretty funny as are his gags.

I always felt Leno's show was not going to last that long. Sort of filler TV, but isn't most of it now!:!

Gozgals
 
I miss Conan's old show. I'm not sure if it's new writers or if NBC gave him a list of things he can and can't do. Hope it doesn't hurt his career. I love Conan.

I feel bad for Leno.
 
I've been mad at NBC ever since they cancelled Medium and Southland because they were deemed 10pm shows and Leno took up those spots. I'm happy other networks had enough sense to pick these shows up.

And I thought Leno was retiring? IDK, reminds me of how many times Michael Jordan claimed to be retiring then would come out of retirement.
 
from what i understand, leno's ratings weren't abysmal - they weren't high, but because the show cost so little to produce, it wasn't problematic to NBC. what was problematic was the affiliates threatening to drop the show because they were losing viewers to their late-night news.

the tonight show ratings are way down with conan.

i prefer leno and would love to see him go back to the 11:35 slot, but as much as i dislike conan, i do feel bad for him.
 
I prefer Conan AND Jimmy to Jay. I'll admit, at first, I didn't care for Jimmy's show. But I think that was only because I missed Conan while he was off air. Late Night w/ Jimmy definitely grew on me, quickly. I've always liked Fallon, since his days at my beloved SNL. I always enjoyed watching him and Horatio Sans trying (and failing) to keep straight faces in just about every skit they did together! I also loved the chemistry between him and Tina Fey on Weekend Update. Mostly, I LOVE Late Night's band, The Roots, an amazing talent all around. Plus, musical guests sit in with The Roots. I love this show.

I've always liked Conan and was very pleased when Andy Richter re-joined him in his new Tonight Show slot. I rarely miss a show! His wit and sense of humor are always on point, IMO. And I watch my NBC affiliate's News prior to both shows. I watch NBC more than any channel. I do not watch Jay and make it a point to change the channel when his show comes on since the first day it aired last fall. It's nothing against Jay, really. He's nice enough, I suppose, I just find his humor bland for my taste and his refusal to pass the baton a little childish.

I do know that most of my older relatives don't like Conan in place of Jay. I heard all about their distaste for Conan over the holidays, much to my dismay. I think this is what is hurting the NBC affiliate's News viewership. A good portion of the people watching the news at that time of night are retirees and people that watched the inception of The Tonight Show with Allen, Paar and later, The King of Late Night, Mr. Johnny Carson. Can't really blame them, all were comedic pioneers and Carson's prodigy, Leno, had them at "Hello!", IMO.

It's unfortunate if NBC loses Conan because I will have to channel surf to watch him and because I worry that the theme song for Conan's show may get lost in the shuffle. A very dear friend of mine composed it and I love it. Anyway, I wanted to comment about my thoughts on this irritating turn of events and figured, what better place to look for a place to post than WS?

On a side note...nothing against Carson Daly, but I couldn't give a hoot if his show gets cancelled and would actually be happier with the late night line-up without it. But, Poker After Dark has to stay!
 
Leno's a winner no matter what time he's on!!!:woohoo: I got to see him more at 10:00, but I'll still be faithful when I can. :dance:Conan O'Brien just isn't funny, and NBC should never have yanked Jay to give him the 11:30 slot to begin with!
 
I love Jimmy Fallon...but not as a late night host. I think he is great. But his show...not so much. I say keep Conan where he is, and give Jimmy's spot to Leno. Or Leno could just freakin' retire and get it over with. CONAN DESERVES THE TONIGHT SHOW. :)
 
I thought I read somewhere that this was Leno's idea about the 10 pm time slot not NBC's. That Leno had wanted/requested to do this show at 10 for a long time ?????:waitasec:
 
Conan O'Brien issued this statement today:

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/conan-o-brien-quits-tonight-show--911
 
I agree with Conan. Moving the time slots is NOT no big deal. It is huge. I think it would seriously disrupt all three programs. And NBC should wise up, and not mess with a good thing.

Do the right thing and bow out gracefully, Leno!
 
I cannot stand ANY late nite show, I further cannot stand how NBC took away all the 10:00 pm drama's just to save money!! I think that it is a pathetic excuse! I hope they decide to bring back more dramas for there 10 pm slots!
 

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