Late night mess at NBC... Latest: Conan's new show (reply #250)

[burnzy24]

AJAY wrote:

The Tonight Show ratings have plummeted with Conan O'Brien, and I am not the least bit surprised.

If Johnny Carson would have had a show right before Jay Leno when he first took over for the Tonight Show, nobody would have watched Leno either. It took Jay two year to beat Letterman in the ratings, and this was helped out by NBC's solid prime time lineup at the time (ER). What is Conan being helped by, Jay's pre- Tonight show "Tonight Show" that has been horriffic?

[TooLiveBrew]

I think Conan would absolutely blow people away if he were on Comedy Central, but ... there's just no realistic way Comedy Central can match $15M a year. It's too bad.

[PKBadger]

I think Conan would absolutely blow people away if he were on Comedy Central, but ... there's just no realistic way Comedy Central can match $15M a year. It's too bad.

 

It's interesting, though....they obviously had enough resources to offer Chappelle a $50M deal. Now that was somewhat different because DVD sales were tied in (and that really wouldn't carry over to a late night variety show) but Viacom has deep pockets. With the right advertiser support, who knows? I'd hope that the Comedy Central chief would at least explore it.

[danzig6767]

I used to love Letterman, but he lost his edge with ages as happens.

 

I understand Conan's schtick and occasionally he would make me laugh, but never enough to make me a fairly regular viewer.

 

Leno i liked as an interviewer, but didn't often find the rest of his show that funny.

 

So over the years i just never became a regular viewer of any of the three late night shows. Instead, on nights nothing else was on, i'd see who the guests would be on each show. If any guest interested me, i'd not waste time watching the rarely funny monologues and pre-guest borefests. I'd just wait and then turn on the show when the guest came on i wanted to see interviewed. If the second guest didn't interest me, i changed the channel.

[RyDogg66]

O'Briens bad ratings can be attributed to Lenos bad ratings (less of a lead in).

So we are a nation of broken remote controls? When I want to watch something I turn the channel. I never understood the "lead in" argument.

[MJLiverock]

I have never understood the appeal of Leno, never found him funny at all. I love Conan but can understand how his humor is not appealing to some. I think he is less written joke funny and more delivery and off the top of his head funny. Getting Any Richter back on the show is great. Leno seems like a robot reading cue cards that are just not that funny. Leno's interaction with the band seems forced and again, not funny and no comparison to Conan and Andy.

 

I do agree that Leno must appeal to some, it must be the an older demographic. I am 36 and have never found him funny, but I know my Dad always liked Carson and Letterman but now goes to bed before any of these guys come on TV. The failure of Leno at the 9PM slot makes me question how he would do at 10:30 given his older demographic audience who may not stay up to watch but then again the younger demographic has pretty much been seduced by cable and the internet so the "Late Night" after the news time slot has a lot more competition since it has never been the only option for me and the even younger crowd. When NBC moved Leno to 9 I remember then citing his older audience would like it because it was an earlier slot, but apparently not enough to give up whatever drama CBS throws up against it at 9 PM.

[JoeHova]

So we are a nation of broken remote controls? When I want to watch something I turn the channel. I never understood the "lead in" argument.

Apparently we're a nation too lazy to bother picking up the remote control. I sympathize, they can be heavy.

 

(I wonder exactly how Nielsen ratings are calculated. If somebody is watching whatever is on NBC at 8 and then turns off their TV but leaves their cable box on, does Nielsen record them as watching NBC all night? Or only if the TV itself is actually on? The reason I ask is that I can't imagine 5 million people actually watch Jay Leno, that seems too high by several orders of magnitude. Then again, I don't really get why people enjoy the talk show format, so perhaps I'm being judging Jay too harshly because of that.)

[Godspeed]

Brilliant!

 

[adamb100]

I think lead in's go like this:

 

I like to watch the Office on NBC. Show finishes and I look to see what there airing next. If the show if the show is crappy (i.e Jay Leno Show) I change the channel, if it's good I stay with it most likely all the way to late night TV (Conan).

 

In other news...

 

Last night's episode of "Tonight" had a 42% ratings surge, beating Letterman. Not really suprising since people want to see what Conan has to say. Leno's ratings were flat.

 

Also Leno himself may be considering leaving NBC from a rumor I read.

[chadomac]

In my opinion Jay Leno is one of the most successful talentless people of all time. I know the older crowd loves him, but I don't think he's funny at all and is one of the most boring interviewers ever. Long live Conan.

[Schlitz001]

Last night's episode of "Tonight" had a 42% ratings surge, beating Letterman. Not really suprising since people want to see what Conan has to say. Leno's ratings were flat.

I've been going out of my way to tune in to Conan to hear what he has to say. I think these past couple of shows have been his most entertaining since moving to the earlier time slot. Maybe NBC can pretend that this was all part of their plan to get Conan higher ratings.

[bucks2281]

1992casey wrote:

I don't see a 10 PM Central show being an option for FOX. Channels with news in that time slot (like Channel 6 in Milwaukee) aren't going to want to give that up. A 10 PM Central show would likely be a better fit for cable or first run syndication.

Actually, only 24 FOX affiliates have a newscast at 11et/10ct. But virtually all of the markets are significantly large (not New York, LA or Chicago, though).

 

I definitely subscribe the the "lead-in" argument. FOX scheduled the season debut of 24 for Sunday night, thinking they'd have the NFL playoffs as a lead-in at 4:30 et. But, the rotation was flipped this year, and I'm sure that will be reflected in the ratings. And, interestingly, 60 Minutes is always scheduled for 7/6c on Sundays. Always -- even when CBS has an NFL game at 4:15/3:15 pm or when the NCAA Tournament or US Open runs into primetime, so they'll run the risk of pushing back primetime programming an hour just to keep their primarily older viewers hooked. On the individual level, we have our remotes and DVRs. But in the larger scale, lead-ins are lucrative.

[Brewtacular]

I used to like Conan a lot, but he's just decent now. I'm really warming up to Craig Ferguson, he might be the best of all the late shows right now.

 

Thumbs up on Conan to Comedy Central.

 

I'll second that. Craig is fantastic. I was, still am, a big Conan fan but Craig has surpassed him as the best out there.

[BrewCrewForever]

Kimmel really brought it last night, his Leno parody was fantastic.

[jjkoestler]

Conan was hilarious and really went after NBC and Leno last night. The highlight for me was when Conan was discussing changes at the Winter Olympics and said "Replace the flags on the giant slalom course with breached NBC contracts."

[Diskono]

I can't decide if that Kimmel parody dragged on too long, or if its just that much more awesome because it dragged on. Either way, nicely done.

[adamb100]

Kimmel: "You know what ABC stands for?" Always Bump Conan".

Kimmel: "Conan released a statement today saying he wont participate in the destruction of the Tonight show. Fortunately I will.".

 

Kimmel's show that day may make me watch him alot more often. He's pretty funny.

[adamb100]

TMZ is reporting that Leno and NBC signed a deal that gives Leno the Tonight Show.

 

http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/14/jay-leno-conan-obrien-nbc-the-tonight-show

 

Next Friday will be Conan's last show.

[thebruce44]

Next Friday will be Conan's last show.

 

Well I am pretty much going to boycott anything NBC related I can. I wonder what happens with Leno's rating are just as bad.

[jjkoestler]

Next Friday will be Conan's last show.

 

Well I am pretty much going to boycott anything NBC related I can. I wonder what happens with Leno's rating are just as bad.

 

There really isn't much worth watching on NBC so you won't be missing much. Hopefully Conan goes after them in the last few shows.

[BrewCrewForever]

I think the fact Kimmel dragged out his Leno made it that much better, really played on how annoying Leno is.

 

I bet Conan goes out with a bang, this last week on the air will be must see TV.

[Brewtacular]

Maybe if NBC changed Last Call with Carson Daily to First Call and put if before the local news, then had Jimmy Fallon do a 15 minute warm up for the Tonight Show, and then had Jay wear red on every day but Tuesday this would work out well.

[burnzy24]

BrewCrewIn2004[/b]]I think the fact Kimmel dragged out his Leno made it that much better, really played on how annoying Leno is.

Did anyone else see Leno interview Kimmel tonight? It was both awkward and amazing at the same time. I have no idea why Jay thought this would turn out well, if there is one thing I like about Jimmy Kimmel, it is that he is never afraid to speak his mind.

 

Kimmel to Jay : "Listen, Jay, Conan and I have children-all you have to take care of is cars. I mean, we have lives to lead here. You've got $800 million, for God's sakes-leave our shows alone."

 

Leno also asked Kimmy what his favorite prank he pulled was Jimmy replied: "The best prank I ever pulled was I told a guy that-five years from now-I'm gonna give you my show. And then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly."

[jjkoestler]

Leno also asked Kimmy what his favorite prank he pulled was Jimmy replied: "The best prank I ever pulled was I told a guy that-five years from now-I'm gonna give you my show. And then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly."

I didn't think much of Kimmel until I read this quote. I might have to check out his show now. Classic.

[Oldcity]

Conan still relentless tonight. Apparently he was actually offered a role in an adult film. "Just as I'm about to climax, I'll be replaced by Jay Leno."