…Or Will NBC Send Conan Walking?

By James Poniewozik | @poniewozik | January 7, 2010 | +

Whoa—things are getting interesting at NBC, or at least in the NBC rumor department. TMZ is now reporting that the network is moving Jay Leno back to 11:30 after Feb. 1. The open question, it says: will Jay take the Tonight Show back, or will he get a half hour, followed by Conan O’Brien? (Or, will Conan be screwed, or will Conan be really screwed?)

[Update: Kinda screwed!, reports the New York Times, which tonight says NBC plans to move Jay to 11:30 and Conan to midnight. Still no official word from NBC.]

If any of this is true, it raises all kinds of questions. As discussed earlier: what does NBC put in five hours of primetime? (When, as it is, Mercy, Trauma and other timeslots are shaky.) What does Conan do in response? If Conan leaves, how much longer would NBC keep Jay in late night? Is the move in part a way to make good on a contractual commitment to Jay (as well as keep him from going to ABC)? Is it driven by the new overlords at Comcast? Can Jay get ground back against David Letterman, or is his brand tarnished and Dave on top for good?

These and other questions will be open if it’s true. (NBC still denies an earlier report today that it is considering dropping The Jay Leno Show.)And, if it is, sympathies to the badly-used Conan.

[Update: Bill Carter of the New York Times, who literally wrote the book on the Tonight Show, reports that NBC "did not deny a report posted by the website TMZ that NBC was considering making the switch." And when you do not deny you're considering that you're replacing your Tonight host to Bill Carter...]

Related Topics: conan o'brien, jay leno, The Tonight Show, tmz, Uncategorized

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http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/01/07/report-nbc-may-send-jay-walking/ Report: NBC May Send Jay Walking – Tuned In – TIME.com

[...] Tuned In A blog about television by TIME’s TV critic James Poniewozik. Tuned In Feed Daily E-mail Updates « PreviousSurvivor Announces Heroes and Villains. Can You Tell the Difference? Next »…Or Will NBC Send Conan Walking? [...]
babylonlarry

Having never cared for Letterman’s style, I tried Conan for my after news humor fix. Sorry, but Conan is way out there.

I was disappointed that Leno’s primetime show was a carbon copy of his late night one with nothing innovative or different.

I still find Letterman very unpalatable and would be glad to listen to Leno’s monologue before sleep.
adriaezn

I just don’t get the logic behind this. I just really don’t. What valuable demographic does Jay Leno appeal to? None! This would be a bad decision by NBC…
http://whatchannelareyouwatching.com Stephen Fofanoff

Perhaps NBC will finally get someone behind the wheel who knows what they’re doing.

Seriously, the trouble is that NBC used to be an innovative leader and now finds themselves a distant reactionary trend-follower (albeit too late to the party).
http://www.simonvinkenoog.nl/beeld/Yogi%20-%20Annelies%20Rigter.jpg yogi

That’s interesting that you feel Conan is too out there, because I’ve felt he’s been really watered down since his change to the Tonight Show, which is kind of sad to me.
masurix

I think the problem is simply that broadcast TV is a dinosaur and it’s really a tough problem to try to address. It’s really no wonder they’re flailing. I figure it’s only a matter of time until they’re suing us for not watching. ;)
beerbaron

Are you kidding me? Is Leno seriously trying to steal the Tonight Show again?
Joel Crary

Conan should have his own channel.
http://stevesuggests.wordpress.com stevesancarlos

I’ve tried this great new thing. It’s called reading right before I go to sleep. TV at every level (network, local, cable) is dead dead dead.
Tom Shaw

What Conan chooses seems like the biggest question. Does Leno tell Conan he is flat out retiring in X years, and then Conan gets the job back? Does Conan simply take that and stew, knowing that when Leno does retire, NBC can’t give the job to Fallon, and then demands a huge contract at that point?

Speaking of Fallon, I hope he stays around after this mess. He’s certainly more entertaining than Carson Daly, and ratings wise has been keeping his own against the also surprisingly well performing Ferguson.
ipfletch

More evidence that NBC is just flat-out scrambling, throwing anything at the wall in the hopes something will stick.

Conan may be hosed- I don’t know what’s in his contract. However, If he’s able to, he should bail from NBC and RUN- never looking back.
Tom Shaw

Actually, thinking this over last night, what about this:

This sudden about-face is for the affiliates… because of Comcast.

Imagine this: NewNBC asks the affiliates, “What will it take for you to not throw up roadblocks for the Comcast / NBC merger?” Their answer: “Leno gone, now.”

Of course, this change may easily be mutually detrimental – at ABC, Ugly Betty, Forgotten, & Eastwick all have lost to Leno @10pm (even Leno repeats, in some cases!), meaning that the affiliates may not see any better performance for their 11pm newscasts.
Meanwhile, NBC is throwing money away on whatever scraps they have sitting around they can air, and little chance of developing 5 hours of decent programming for next year (after all, 4 hours of drama development from this year resulted in the pre-canceled Day One, DOA Mercy & Trauma, and still unknown Parenthood).

Ain’t corporate mergers grand?
http://twitter.com/poniewozik James Poniewozik

Having also slept on it, I just put up a post hitting some of those very points. Check it out. Also, think of Fox’s retransmission deal. If there’s money to be had in getting (other) cable companies to pay, suddenly you want stuff other than managed decline and “Tivo-proof” shows. I 100% agree with you on the near-term prospects. No one shd assume that whatever NBC puts up will do better than (or maybe even as well as, esp adjusted for cost) as Jay. This could be an ugly spiral.
I think NBC thought it could manage / flip-the-bird-to affiliates better than it did. And if not for the sale, it might have.
captainobvious10

Wow. No kidding. Could have told you the Conan, Jay Leno original move was a bad idea after the first episode of each. Conan destroyed his great show, with some corner version of it. And Jay Leno has a terrible version of his, with no budget. That other guy, so unpopular that I don’t even know his name, that took Conans old spot, has a horribly tasteless show, and he’s s dweeb.