NBC to Conan O'Brien - The Choice Is Yours

[ShamRocker1]

Leno always sucked (except for headlines). Conan is OK but Jimmy is much funnier (I thought This Was Sweet!)

[Diabolii]

the Tonight show died for me after conans arrival

hes not funny, his guests are, i cant laugh at what he says,just at how weird he acts and looks

Ive never understood why hes funny, but i think this thread proves everyone has diff tastes

Glad to see i can get my Jay fix again

[Dysphoria]

the Tonight show died for me after conans arrival

hes not funny, his guests are, i cant laugh at what he says,just at how weird he acts and looks

Ive never understood why hes funny, but i think this thread proves everyone has diff tastes

Glad to see i can get my Jay fix again

You have no idea what are you talking about.

Connan is way better than any of the late night hosts, although ... since he's been moved to Jay's time he hasn't been the same. His jokes are mellowed down trying to fit the younger crowed too.... I wish they return him back to his old time schedule. He kicked ass there.

[Rob2687]

The future of NBC?s late-night plans may wind up in Conan O?Brien?s hands.

One day after NBC executives said privately that they were contemplating a plan to move Jay Leno back to 11:35 p.m., representatives of Mr O?Brien made it clear the comedian has not accepted NBC?s plan and was likely not to agree any time in the near future.

At the same time a new possibility may be emerging for Mr. O?Brien ? at a rival network. The Fox network apparently wants Mr. O?Brien ? and the public ? to know that it thinks very highly of the late-night star.

?We?ve always been interested in late night and we?re always looking to bring great new talent to Fox. While Conan would be a great fit for Fox, he?s still under contract with NBC, so we?ll just see how all of this plays out,? said a Fox employee who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about the issue.

Several news organizations published similar comments Friday afternoon.

And one Fox executive amplified by saying a late-night show has always been at least loosely on the network?s agenda. ?We love Conan,? the executive said.

Mr. Leno has already made an oblique reference to the possibility of an opening at Fox. On Thursday night, Mr. Leno joked in his monologue: ?If we did get canceled, it will give us time to do some traveling. I understand that Fox is beautiful this time of year.?

Unlike Mr. Leno, Mr. O?Brien made no jokes Thursday night about the public speculation about both men?s late-night careers.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010...fox/#more-23231

[Rappy Veteran]

The LATimes has an interesting piece today chronicling the rise and fall of TV executive Jeff Zucker. Just over half a year ago, Zucker’s decision to move Leno into the 10 p.m. slot on NBC was widely regarded as one of the biggest TV bets we’d ever seen. But while Leno might have technically been profitable, NBC clearly failed to take into account their entire TV ecosystem, as Leno completely decimated the ratings of local affiliates. In fact, my local NBC affiliate, WHDH in Boston, almost refused to air Leno outright, but was eventually cowed into submission. Unfortunately, it now looks like they would have been better off striking out on their own.

With rumors that NBC’s entire prime time lineup will be reshuffled, the cost of the entire Leno debacle might end up being quite high. According to the LATimes, “Some veteran TV executives believe the Leno imbroglio could ultimately cost more than $200 million, including the damage inflicted on stations’ local newscasts, their ad rates and NBC programs, such as ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,’ which lost millions of viewers when its time period was changed. They predicted that it could take years for NBC to rebuild.” (emphasis added) Consider the $200 million number a back-of-the-envelope guess, but I don’t have any problem believing that this whole experiment has been nothing short of a financial disaster.

Slash Film

[Rob2687]

Wow that's pretty bad. No wonder Vivendi dumped NBC.

[Rob2687]

All this hubbub is helping Conan with the ratings.

Late Night: Conan Crushes Dave on Friday Night

Posted on 09 January 2010 by Robert Seidman

While all the noise about Jay Leno moving back to 11:30 hasn?t done anything for The Jay Leno Show?s 10pm ratings, perhaps the noise about whether Conan will stay or go has helped with The Tonight Show at 11:30. Last night Conan crushed Letterman in adults 18-49 (1.2/4 rating/share vs. 0.8/3) in Nielsen?s 25 local markets with People Meters.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/09/late-...day-night/38218

[Stokkolm]

Yeah, CBS needs to dump Letterman, because Craig Ferguson is much funnier. It won't be like Conan replacing Leno, it'll be almost the opposite.

[Ayepecks]

I find both Letterman and Ferguson to be the most unfunny people in latenight comedy, personally.

[Growled Member]

You have to feel for Conan. NBC has put him in a tough position.

[Ayepecks]

You have to feel for Conan. NBC has put him in a tough position.

Eh, I have a hard time feeling sorry for anyone who makes millions when they're having job issues. He'll still make millions regardless of what happens.

[I am Reid]

im happy about this if only one thing happens: conan moves to Fox.

Why? Fox fits in more with Conan's humor, and he can be himself, and even better than before.

His humor mixes in well with family guy, simpsons, and other shows that fox does. it'll be awesome.

I really started to lose interest in NBC when the talks of comcast buyin them started. Now they're just turning to ****. used to be my fav network :(

but yea, conan would be nice on fox. :D

so in other words, its immature

[Tech Star]

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/...rumors/1191556/

Conan address it on his show.

"Jay and I are having Tiger Wood's babies!" :laugh:

Also:

:laugh:

Edited January 10, 2010 by Tech Star

[Berserk87]

BOOO!!!! hes got a good slot right now.

Conan > Leno

[CrossCheck]

Wow that's pretty bad. No wonder Vivendi dumped NBC.

Vivendi dumped its 20% take in order for NBC Universal to take full control to help finalize a sale to Comcast. not because NBC is doing poorly.

http://www.silobreaker.com/vivendi-dumps-2...784967786364952

[Simon Veteran]

Conan's obviously quite keen on leaving NBC. Just look at the end of that clip: "whoever crawls out alive gets to leave NBC - that's an appealing proposition" - I think he's gone.

[Ayepecks]

Conan's obviously quite keen on leaving NBC. Just look at the end of that clip: "whoever crawls out alive gets to leave NBC - that's an appealing proposition" - I think he's gone.

Relax, he's poking fun. Jay's done millions of jokes about NBC as well.

[_dandy_]

Let me get this straight: They want to compress Leno's show down to a half-hour, and move it later, which means pushing O'Brien's show back by a half-hour as well.

Has it occured to NBC that they don't have to keep him on the air at all?

[Rob2687]

Apparently NBC is holding a conference right now and they've already announced their plans for the late night lineup.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/w...article1425456/

AndrewRyan:

Correction: The Tonight Show will run one hour, from 12:05 to 1:05, when Jimmy Fallon takes over. That means Conan gets the half-hour at 11:30.. But Jay gets the mantle of The Tonight Show

...

AndrewRyan:

Gaspin just said Conan will take Toe Tonight Show title, so apologies for earlier confusion. The headline is Leno's 10 p.m. show is gone, and that he's moving back to 11:35 p.m.

...

AndrewRyan:

Yes, that is the plan. Gaspin clarified the fact that Leno is their 11:30 man. Again, he keeps saying this all has to be worked out with the talent.

They also talked about the primetime lineup but I don't think the blogger posted much about it. This is all I saw.

AndrewRyan:

Gaspin hinted that a new drama from David E. Kelley will help fill the void, and mentioned they have Law & Order: Criminal Intent in the wings. Obviously this is still being determined.

AndrewRyan:

They were just asked about Southland, and said that the show underperformed in ratings.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Rob2687

[Growled Member]

I don't see this working at all.

[episode]

Let me get this straight: They want to compress Leno's show down to a half-hour, and move it later, which means pushing O'Brien's show back by a half-hour as well.

Has it occured to NBC that they don't have to keep him on the air at all?

They want him on their network instead of another. That is why Leno got the 10pm slot in the first place.

[Tech Star]

Wait...so what's going to happen now?

[Ayepecks]

Apparently NBC is holding a conference right now and they've already announced their plans for the late night lineup.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/w...article1425456/

They also talked about the primetime lineup but I don't think the blogger posted much about it. This is all I saw.

That first set of quotations makes absolutely no sense at all to me.

[Rappy Veteran]

TMZ posted some as well!

NBC has just confirmed the TMZ story that Jay Leno's 10 PM show is going off the air next month when the Olympics begin.

And as we also reported, after the Olympics, Leno will take over Conan O'Brien's time slot -- at least for the first half hour.

NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin added that he wants to push Conan and Jimmy Fallon back an hour so things will go back to the way they were -- with Jay controlling 11:35 to 12:35 .... but that's not a done deal.

Gaspin claimed that he's already met with both Conan and Fallon to discuss the changes -- and shockingly, they weren't ****ed.

Gaspin says both men were professional and understanding.

[Rappy Veteran]

Well, you can't please everybody.

While the industry basked in a smug "we told you so" glow Sunday at the prospect of the broadcast universe returning to its normal rotational orbit, there were some TV fans were none-too-pleased about NBC's plan to relocate late-night-type shows back to late night.

"I swear if they move Conan to midnight I'll be so ****ed," groused Jgopp on Digg.com "It was horrible when he was on so late. I usually just stay up late enough to watch Conan do his opening and then fall asleep. I cannot believe NBC, they cannot make up their mind about anything and it drives me insane."

"The network is 100%+ doing the WRONG thing(s)," wrote Nunya Biz on The Live Feed. "Leno shorter? NO! Later? NO! 1/2 hour!? DEFINITELY NOT!"

And on EW.com: "Guess I?m in the minority who liked having Leno at 10 so that I could get to bed at a decent hour," wrote Jim. "And it did actually get me to watch some of the local news at 11:00 ? something I never did before. Oh well. I?ll not stay up."

Must be said that these comments were pretty rare on message boards. Most viewers said variations on the same things industry pundits have been saying.

"According to NBC, the show 'was performing at acceptable levels for the network' but 'did not meet our affiliates' needs,'" wrote TallGuyWithGlassesOn on Fark.com. "If that's not an admission of incompetence, I'm not sure what it is."

THR