NBC late night shakeup


JackFetch

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  • 4 weeks later...

Word is that Conan has signed a deal with TBS. In so doing, he's pushing Lopez Tonight back an hour. People will point out the supposed irony of it, but they'll be wrong. Conan didn't want to see The Tonight Show, which has a legacy at that time slot, moved.

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More about the TBS show:

Conan O'Brien is joining TBS to host a late-night talk show that is expected to debut in November. The Emmy-winning comedian's new program will be followed by "Lopez Tonight," which will shift to a midnight time slot.

O'Brien began talks in earnest with TBS just last week, after George Lopez personally called him to ask that he consider joining the network's late-night line-up. "I can't think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in," Lopez said. "It's the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy."

Said O'Brien: "In three months I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly."

O'Brien will host his hour-long, yet-to-be-titled show Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m. (ET/PT).

"Conan has been the comedic voice for a generation. TBS already has a huge audience of young comedy lovers, and Conan's show will give these fans even more reasons to watch our network," said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks.

"For decades, late-night TV has been dominated by broadcast television," Koonin said. "Now, with a young audience and a growing late-night lineup, TBS is set to be the choice of comedy fans for years to come."

Following his brief run on NBC's "The Tonight Show," O'Brien is currently touring the United States and Canada with his live show, "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour."

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=65077

I think it's a bad move myself. He's losing the non cable audience. Not to mention he's the lead in to George Lopez, which is sad in itself. That's like The Beatles opening for The Monkees.

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I have no idea who/what TBS is. Is it a channel that everyone gets in their basic package, cause that wouldn't be a bad thing. It just seems so strange and left of field. I'll have to consult the gossip sites to figure this out!

Most cable packages include TBS. Back in the day it used to air WCW Thunder, and even before that showed wrestling of some sort. Either NWA or AWA.

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Cool, thanks Jack. I remember watching Nitro on TCM maybe?

Just did some snooping and Conan seems to be focusing on the demographic, stating that TBS' average audience age is 33 years old, kind of like they are the future of TV. Interesting play, kinda makes sense if he wants a long term gig or if he wants to build a bigger base. Lopez seems genuine in his excitement for it, and you have to give Conan the benefit of the doubt, he wouldn't go forward with it if he didn't feel Lopez wasn't comfortable. Also there was this from Lopez "I totally support Conan's decision ... We'll have the best hair in late night." Can't wait for the leak of how much he's getting!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Seven weeks into Jay Leno’s Tonight Show 2.0 and his ratings trend is eerily similar to Conan O’Brien’s. Jay’s beaten David Letterman’s Late Show all seven weeks, but so did Conan’s Tonight Show after seven weeks.

While Jay took over the Tonight Show for the second time on March 1, 2010 and Conan took the Tonight Show on June 1, 2009, once you line up their ratings by week number instead of by date the trends look awfully similar.

Jeff Zucker turned his network inside out to put Jay back at 11:30 and this is what he got?

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/22/leno-following-conans-tonight-show-ratings-trajectory/49502

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  • 2 weeks later...

"Can I assume that this interview would take a different tenor if that contract did not exist?"

"No, I don't think it would."

May I grow up to be as classy as a human being as these two (and his wife!).

Also:

"Oh my god, it IS Lutherans. Okay, I believe if I experience any joy in life, I will go to hell. That is what I believe."

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  • 1 month later...
WILL JAY RECEIVE WALKING PAPERS?

Low ratings and high production costs have pushed NBC’s Tonight show with Jay Leno into the red, the New York Post reported today (Friday), citing unnamed insiders. “Leno May Be Next,” the newspaper said in a headline, suggesting that Comcast may replace Leno once it gains control of NBC Universal later this year. “You can’t figure they’re happy about this,” said the newspaper’s source. Ratings for Tonight have fallen below those that Conan O’Brien garnered when he hosted last year. Moreover, the network is shelling out considerably more money for Leno than it did for O’Brien — $30 million per year vs. O’Brien’s $15 million, according to the newspaper, plus the cost of a bigger production staff. What’s more, the Tonight show, whose audience is down 20 percent since Leno left the show a year ago, has been overtaken in the ratings by the ABC newsmagazine Nightline at 11:30 p.m., and Tonight’s ratings appear to have only one way to go once O’Brien enters the late-night fray in the fall. Meanwhile, David Letterman’s ratings remain virtually flat with last year, which, commented the website TVbytheNumbers.com, “is pretty good in the broadcast television world where ‘flat is the new up.’” Letterman’s network, CBS, boasted in a news release on Thursday that Letterman’s Late Show “delivered its most competitive second quarter against The Tonight Show in viewers and key demographics since 1995.

Source

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