Jay Leno, now in primetime

[Finalnight]

NBC reportedly has signed its late-night star Jay Leno to a contract that will keep him at the network and move him to prime time. Under the new deal, Leno, whose ?Tonight? show hosting job will go to Conan O?Brien next June, would have a new show airing at 10 p.m. Eastern every weeknight, according to The New York Times.

Source

Kinda funny that Will Smith gave him a retirement present on tonight's episode, you could see Jay trying to hold back the news and he was in a very good mood the entire episode.

 

[dbk]

I don't think it'll do well. CBS dominates the 10pm slot with their dramas.

 

[ViRGE]

I would say that NBC put themselves in a boondoggle here by trying so hard to keep both Leno and O'Brien, but at this point it will probably work out better for them given some of their otherwise miserable programming. It does however significantly cheapen the Tonight Show, which will now be NBC's premiere late night talk show in name only.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: dbk
I don't think it'll do well. CBS dominates the 10pm slot with their dramas.

You sure about that?

Few shows now at 10 p.m. could be considered hits. They include ?CSI: Miami,? and ?CSI: New York? on CBS and ?Law & Order SVU? and ?E.R.? on NBC. ?E.R.? is about the leave the air. ?SVU? will probably move to 9 p.m. next fall.

There have been no new hits at 10 p.m. on any network in almost four years; ratings for shows in that time slot continue to fall.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12...d67d05bac74&ei=5087%0A

 

[Vette73]

I don;t know how well this will work. 5 days a week will wear on people real fast. That and I see this as NBC's way of saying "we suck at 10pm so lets put a show on that does not cost much and just give up on the 10pm slot..."

Sure it will bring in some numbers at first but will wear off.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I don;t know how well this will work. 5 days a week will wear on people real fast. That and I see this as NBC's way of saying "we suck at 10pm so lets put a show on that does not cost much and just give up on the 10pm slot..."

Sure it will bring in some numbers at first but will wear off.

you do realize Leno makes BANK right? I'm sure Leno at 10 isn't at all about saving money. Since he's #1 late night by far I would imagine he could get a shit load of money from NBC to stay on the air. Even if it's at 10PM. He gets like $18 million a year (or close) He could probably ask for way more. A new Law & Order spinoff would be much cheaper than keeping Leno.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I don;t know how well this will work. 5 days a week will wear on people real fast. That and I see this as NBC's way of saying "we suck at 10pm so lets put a show on that does not cost much and just give up on the 10pm slot..."

Sure it will bring in some numbers at first but will wear off.

you do realize Leno makes BANK right? I'm sure Leno at 10 isn't at all about saving money. Since he's #1 late night by far I would imagine he could get a shit load of money from NBC to stay on the air. Even if it's at 10PM. He gets like $18 million a year (or close) He could probably ask for way more. A new Law & Order spinoff would be much cheaper than keeping Leno.

Keep in mind that you'd need 5 L&O spinoffs in order to fill the weekly schedule. Leno is definitely cheaper.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I don;t know how well this will work. 5 days a week will wear on people real fast. That and I see this as NBC's way of saying "we suck at 10pm so lets put a show on that does not cost much and just give up on the 10pm slot..."

Sure it will bring in some numbers at first but will wear off.

you do realize Leno makes BANK right? I'm sure Leno at 10 isn't at all about saving money. Since he's #1 late night by far I would imagine he could get a shit load of money from NBC to stay on the air. Even if it's at 10PM. He gets like $18 million a year (or close) He could probably ask for way more. A new Law & Order spinoff would be much cheaper than keeping Leno.

Keep in mind that you'd need 5 L&O spinoffs in order to fill the weekly schedule. Leno is definitely cheaper.

Yep, talk shows are way cheap. It why NBC, CBS, etc... keep these shows even though their numbers in primetime would get them cut. Leno averages in the high 5million viewer range. Knight rider gets higher ratings than leno does.

 

[Wheezer]

I hope they move SVU to a decent time slot

 

[Queasy]

Remember when NBC was the dominant prime-time programming force on TV? Now they are scaling back their programming to try and save money instead of coming up with better shows. Moving Leno to 10PM is part of the deal.

NEW YORK (AP) - A terrible fall season at NBC is forcing the network to consider scaling back the number of hours it airs programming, Chief Executive Jeff Zucker told an investor conference Monday.

While NBC will continue to fund the creation of pilots, Zucker told analysts at a media investor conference sponsored by UBS that NBC is considering cutting the number of hours or perhaps even the number of nights it provides programming.

"Can we continue to program 22 hours of prime-time? Three of our competitors don't. Can we afford to program seven nights a week? One of our competitors doesn't," Zucker said. "All of these questions have to be on the table. And we are actively looking at all of those questions."

Zucker's comments came after the company last week laid off 500 employees?about 3 percent of its work force of 15,000?as part of a plan to trim $500 million next year.

Part of the problem at NBC has to do with the economic crisis and slowdown in advertising revenue in a market that is "as difficult as any we've seen," Zucker said. "Businesses are just afraid to commit."

Zucker said he did not blame the poor ratings at NBC on NBC Entertainment co-chairmen Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff.

"We have not had a good fall at NBC. I don't think that's lost on anyone," he said, adding, "but in no way have we lost confidence in either one of them."

Zucker also said there needs to be a major change at its 10 owned-and-operated local TV stations, which have been hard-hit by a decline in advertising, especially from the auto sector.

"We're in an era where if we don't change the models of these local TV stations, we will be newspapers, we will be car companies," he said. "I don't want to be a company that files for bankruptcy."

NBC was doing stronger on the cable network front, and Zucker said he expects revenues from its cable channels, which include Bravo, USA Network and MSNBC, to grow in the double-digit percentages next year.

In 2009, double-digit growth in cable advertising and single-digit growth in affiliate fees will lift the division, which accounts for 60 percent of the profit at the company, a unit of General Electric Co., he said.

"Every one of our cable networks ... are going to enjoy their best year ever this year both from a financial standpoint and a ratings standpoint," Zucker said. "We believe that will again be the case in 2009."

 

[SludgeFactory]

A talk show is so cheap to produce that he could probably get doubled up in the primetime ratings and still be as profitable as the competition.

I kinda hope this fails, but it probably won't. If it's a major success, it's the beginning of the end of expensive network TV dramas. Idiocracy TV can't be too far away now.

 

[Indolent]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I don;t know how well this will work. 5 days a week will wear on people real fast. That and I see this as NBC's way of saying "we suck at 10pm so lets put a show on that does not cost much and just give up on the 10pm slot..."

Sure it will bring in some numbers at first but will wear off.

You do realize he is on 5 nights a week right now, don't you?

 

[TallBill]

Great, another show that I won't watch. Not saying he isn't funny, or that he doesn't have a good show. I just don't watch much tv unless I can Netflix the whole season.