Leno to stay at NBC
Bradford
Kevin M.
--
Kevin M. (RPCV)
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
> Wow. The solution is both elegant and stupid.
>
> On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 5:08 PM, Bradford <brad...@dwx.com> wrote:
>> According to TV Week, NBC has signed Leno to host a one hour, Monday
>> through Friday prime time show starting in 2009. It will be announced
>> tomorrow.
So it's Leno at 10 every night, Heroes (maybe), L&O I, II and III at 9,
and Howie, Chuck, the thursday night comedies, dateline, and biggest
loser on nbc and potentially 2-3 hours to be named later.
David Lynch
I'm sure that there's five hours of NBC per week that nobody will
miss, but I can't imagine ABC or CBS being able to do that easily.
David J. Lynch
djl...@gmail.com
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
> miss, but I can't imagine ABC or CBS being able to do that easily.
Well, ABC just dumped 3 (Daisy, Sexy, Eli). Toss in Jim, SuperNanny,
Wifeswap, AFV, The Bachelor/ette, an hour of Dancing clips, and everyone
who seems to care says cancel Private Practice.
That's 9 1/2 hours.
CBS: Worst Week, Gary Unmarried, Survivor, The mystery 9 p.m. hour on
friday nights, The Unit. 4 hours.
Ausiello i think says they're spinning off an younger NCIS team that
people as young as 50 might watch...
Karla Robinson
For years, I’ve expected a network to go with a newsmagazine for five nights a week. This is a bit surprising. I wonder how Conan feels about this….
KR
Kevin M.
I think it cuts Conan off at the knees. He still follows Leno,
al-be-it with a 35 minute news break in between (so much for the
seamless transitions between shows NBC and the other networks have
been attempting). What is currently "The Tonight Show" won't be going
away, which means its audience can easily follow Jay 95 minutes
earlier and fall asleep that much faster, leaving Conan high and dry.
Logistically, this is a mess. A new theater in Universal City is being
built specifically for Conan, but Jay's studio is being demolished in
a few months. Will Jay move to New York, or will he stay in LA (in a
less lavish studio) and directly compete for guests with Conan? With
less programs to promote, what will the average guest lineup look
like?
I hope CBS execs are taking notes on this.
So far, Jimmy Kimmel would seem to be the only one coming out of this
smelling like a rose.
--
Kevin M. (RPCV)
Karla Robinson
How the hell will the writers coordinate the jokes?
Come to think of it, there's a similar situation over at Comedy Central,
what with Colbert directly following Stewart. They seem to coordinate very
well. The key difference, of course, is the fact that both Conan and Leno
are one hour, and they both follow the more standardized talk show format.
Is it possible that Leno will be doing something radically different than
what he's done before?
If I'm Conan, I'm rereading my contract to see if there's an out....
KR
-----Original Message-----
From: tvor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvor...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Kevin M.
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 9:38 PM
To: tvor...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Leno to stay at NBC
On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 6:18 PM, Karla Robinson
<karlasr...@zoominternet.net> wrote:
> For years, I've expected a network to go with a newsmagazine for five
nights
Jon Delfin
M-D November
wrote:
> Come to think of it, there's a similar situation over at Comedy Central,
> what with Colbert directly following Stewart. They seem to coordinate very
> well. The key difference, of course, is the fact that both Conan and Leno
> are one hour, and they both follow the more standardized talk show format.
guests who might be considered too 'boring', 'intellectual' or
'academic' for a standard talk show format like Leno, Conan or
Letterman.
Here's the TDS guest list for this week:
Monday: Matthew Alexander, Author, "How to Break a Terrorist"
Tuesday: Mike Huckabee
Wednesday: Don Rickles
Thursday: Philip Seymour Hoffman
And the Colbert guests for the week:
Monday: Geoffrey Canada, Founder, Harlem Children's Zone
Tuesday: Kevin Bacon & Charlie Kaufman
Wednesday: Richard Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations
Thursday: Michael Phelps
By network standards, you've got maybe 4 'bookable' guests there - 6
if you're generous and include Rickles & Kaufman. (Don't
misunderstand - I think Rickles is brilliant. But to a network
executive, he's a second-seat guest at best because of his age and his
"abrasive" charm.)
You've also got the contrast in interview styles - Jon Stewart usually
isn't afraid to call attention to the elephant in the room, although
he'll do it through a joke and put the guest at ease; Conan comes
closest to this, IMHO. Colbert, on the other hand, always filters his
interviews through the 'character' of "Stephen Colbert".
> Is it possible that Leno will be doing something radically different than
> what he's done before?
Truthfully, I haven't watched "Tonight" on a regular basis since Leno
took over. I remember being really disappointed in 1993-94, as well,
because I always liked Leno as Carson's guest host, but he seemed to
lose "the funny" as soon as he took over the show. And let's face it,
Leno is still basically doing Carson's show - I was really looking
forward to Conan taking the reins & see what he would do to make the
show his own. But if Leno is taking over 10pm, that really pulls the
rug out from under Conan, and frankly that's not fair. Conan paid his
dues, did things the right way, remained competitive in a more crowded
daypart, and this is how NBC pays him back?
Here's a dumb idea - give Leno 3 nights a week. Let Top Gear USA have
one night - the 10pm spot works well for Top Gear's style of humor,
and allows the show to ape some of the stunts from the UK version
without worrying about watchdogs like the PTC. And on that 5th
night? Why not go back to the well - revive the live televised
theatrical production, like Playhouse 50. Use stock sets, and perform
either classic works (cheap to license) or new works from emerging
playwrights. Hell, it can't do any worse than 'My Own Worst Enemy'
did, can it?
If this report is true, tho, Leno's going to need to change up his
format a bit. Maybe he does the show from a different city every
week. Sure, it makes guest booking more difficult, but with Conan &
Craig both in LA, and Leno unlikely to go to NYC with Letterman,
taking the show on the road could give his show a unique spin & make
it JUST different enough from Conan's studio show. Also, I think a
road act would appeal to his inner stand-up. Finally, love him or
hate him, Leno's appeal has always been how well he gets on with
regular people - a road show plays on that strength.
IMHO, I think Leno at 10 would overstay his welcome very quickly.
He'd be better off taking the Bob Hope route and hosting variety
specials.
> If I'm Conan, I'm rereading my contract to see if there's an out....
Leno's contract - the only way NBC avoids breach is if Conan doesn't
get "Tonight", but it doesn't address surrounding factors.
PGage
> I think it cuts Conan off at the knees. He still follows Leno,
> al-be-it with a 35 minute news break in between (so much for the
> seamless transitions between shows NBC and the other networks have
> been attempting). What is currently "The Tonight Show" won't be going
> away, which means its audience can easily follow Jay 95 minutes
> earlier and fall asleep that much faster, leaving Conan high and dry.
>
> Logistically, this is a mess. A new theater in Universal City is being
> built specifically for Conan, but Jay's studio is being demolished in
> a few months. Will Jay move to New York, or will he stay in LA (in a
> less lavish studio) and directly compete for guests with Conan? With
> less programs to promote, what will the average guest lineup look
> like?
I am going to take the other side on this (Jane, you ignorant slut).
This is a good move on NBC's part. As noted earlier today here (though
I think we got the same information a couple of weeks ago) NBC has
been thinking of cutting down to 2 hours or programing a day anyway.
This essentially does that, while still giving them a revenue
producer. I don't know how much more they are going to pay Leno, but I
suspect the costs of putting on the new Leno show will be less than
doing a traditional 10:00 pm drama hour - especially when you factor
in the savings from all the one hour pilots they won't have to make.
It also protects Conan from Leno competition. And the 35 minute news
break is actually a big plus - it will lead in well to local news with
older Leno viewers, and will be the continuation of an old habit for
the many used to going from Leno to Conan.
This also gives NBC a platform for fresh, same day commenting on
breaking events within primetime - something they seemed to have good
luck with during the presidential campaign.
What needs to happen now is for Leno to make a real break from his
Tonight Show persona. As we noted during the strike, when Leno is
Leno, outside of the moronic trappings he has imposed on himself in
the Tonight Show, he is often tolerable and sometimes appealing. I
think he could easily morph his format into something approaching Bil
Mahr's show, with the first half hour filled with monologue and maybe
political and newsy extensions of his "Headlines" bit that would allow
him to stay topical (and, I guess, God Forgive him, variations on the
horrid "Jaywalking), then a second half hour with 1 - 3 guests, maybe
concurrent, who talk about the events of the day/week in addition to
pimping whatever project they are working on. He could mix it up with
some big name solo Hollywood guests, and maybe sprinkle in a few more
fairly serious newsy interviews than he currently does.
I am not sure when a show like this would tape - I guess 90 minutes
earlier than what they currently do - would that put it taping at
sometime around 2:30 Los Angeles time? That would make for an
interesting audience. That might be another reason to move the show to
New York. It might actually be easier to get actors to fly out to NY
to do a show like this - even with mediocre ratings wouldn't more
people see them on a 10:00 pm Leno Show than an 11:35 Tonight Show?
I might even watch a show like this once in a while, if they actually
let Leno be Leno.
Karla Robinson
schedule. If Leno changed up his show a bit, and allowed for a "Politically
Incorrect"-type of panel discussion segment or something, this could work
well. During the elections, Leno could have made a killing by staying
current on the campaign shenanigans. Think about a live remote with Tina
Fey as Sarah Palin, for example.
I guess I'm just caught up in feeling this from Conan's perspective. I'd
seriously love to have been a fly on the wall of that conference room when
they broke the news that not only was Leno not going away, he was going to
air five nights a week, merely 35 minutes before he goes on. Yikes.
KR
PGage
The problem with a news magazine on NBC is that has meant *Dateline*,
which is embarrassing. Plus, didn't NBC come close to 5 mights/week of
Dateline some years ago to less than great results?
I would like to know what Conan thinks of this too - but I will be
surprised if he is too pissed. I think his biggest worry would be that
Leno would not be successful enough in prime time, and not give him a
strong enough lead in. Or maybe I have missed something (I have not
seen Leno since the strike, and only catch Conan sporadically). Do
Conan and Leno have some bad blood going on between them? I didn't
think Conan was being promised a Leno-free zone as much as the 11:3[5]
slot. Leno at 10:00 will make Conan at 11:35 look hip and cutting edge
even if he had to tone things down for the earlier slot.
Of course, if Leno just does his godawful version of the Tonight Show
at 10:00 and calls it the Primetime Show or the Evening Show or
something, then I wouldn't blame Conan for being pissed.
Tom Wolper
>
> Of course, if Leno just does his godawful version of the Tonight Show
> at 10:00 and calls it the Primetime Show or the Evening Show or
> something, then I wouldn't blame Conan for being pissed.
Some notes until I form a more coherent opinion:
Leno isn't leaving LA. NBC needs him, or at least needs him off the
air, more than he needs a show from them. Figuring his car collection
is as important to him as a show, he'd turn down NBC if it meant
moving to NYC.
Ratings expectations are vastly different for prime time and late
night. Leno's been getting 3.5-4 million viewers a night and that's
fatal in prime time. Leno competes well against Letterman and
Nightline, but that's not the same as competing against CSI:Miami.
The show I envision him doing is monologue/topical comedy for the
first half and a variety show for the second half. Maybe a newsmaker
or big star interview occasionally and lots of music acts.
Tom W
PGage
> Ratings expectations are vastly different for prime time and late
> night. Leno's been getting 3.5-4 million viewers a night and that's
> fatal in prime time. Leno competes well against Letterman and
> Nightline, but that's not the same as competing against CSI:Miami.
Enemy gets around 4.2 million at 10:00 on Mondays, so Leno is already
coming close to that at 11:35. From what I can tell NBC is averaging
around 7 million at the 10:00 hour M-F. Can Leno average 5.25 mil for
the week? If a 10:00 Leno program costs less than 2/3 of a one hour
drama, and gets 3/4 of the ratings, it seems like NBC will be ahead.
PGage
Looks like AB also thinks this is a good idea:
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008/12/leno-at-9-this.html, citing
most of the same reasons I have. He gives a quick and dirty
calculation that suggests Leno would get around 5.2 million (based on
HUT levels) even without factoring in better lead ins from the 9:00
NBC shows. He does not give what I now am looking for, which is the
average cost of a prime time Leno compared to the average cost of a
prime time drama.
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
Chi McBride noted on Cferg's show that Pushing Daisies was getting about
the same ratings as the "Late Late Show."
dsi...@yahoo.com
> > Logistically, this is a mess. A new theater in Universal City is being
> > built specifically for Conan, but Jay's studio is being demolished in
> > a few months. Will Jay move to New York, or will he stay in LA (in a
> > less lavish studio) and directly compete for guests with Conan? With
> > less programs to promote, what will the average guest lineup look
> > like?
> Tonight Show persona. As we noted during the strike, when Leno is
> Leno, outside of the moronic trappings he has imposed on himself in
> the Tonight Show, he is often tolerable and sometimes appealing. I
> think he could easily morph his format into something approaching Bil
> Mahr's show, with the first half hour filled with monologue and maybe
> political and newsy extensions of his "Headlines" bit that would allow
> him to stay topical (and, I guess, God Forgive him, variations on the
> horrid "Jaywalking), then a second half hour with 1 - 3 guests, maybe
> concurrent, who talk about the events of the day/week in addition to
> pimping whatever project they are working on. He could mix it up with
> some big name solo Hollywood guests, and maybe sprinkle in a few more
> fairly serious newsy interviews than he currently does.
to catch up on my backlog of books.
That said, I think NBC could do a lot worse than renting either the
Doolittle/Huntington Hartford/Ricardo Montalban or Henry Fonda
Theatres in Hollywood, going live, and emulating Steve Allen's show
and turning Leno and his guests loose on the tourist trade. ABC tried
it for a while with Kimmel, but I think this would be right up Jay's
alley.
--Dave Sikula
Karla Robinson
Enemy gets around 4.2 million at 10:00 on Mondays, so Leno is already
coming close to that at 11:35. From what I can tell NBC is averaging
around 7 million at the 10:00 hour M-F. Can Leno average 5.25 mil for
the week? If a 10:00 Leno program costs less than 2/3 of a one hour
drama, and gets 3/4 of the ratings, it seems like NBC will be ahead.
This is exactly right. I would have to guess that Leno would be much
cheaper than a new scripted drama, but not a reality show. Since NBC hasn't
had much luck in the reality genre, Leno is a better move.
I could see this being one of those guest-driven-ratings issues, too--on the
nights when he has, say, Britney Spears, his ratings are higher, and the
nights he's got Don Rickles, not so much.
Overall, he's got to get better ratings than much of their line-up, and at a
cheaper price.
Still, I hope he changes things up a bit....if he moves essentially the same
show to 10pm, I'll be continuing to watch the fun reality stuff on Bravo or
Olbermann on MSNBC.
Steve Timko
Enemy gets around 4.2 million at 10:00 on Mondays, so Leno is already
coming close to that at 11:35. From what I can tell NBC is averaging
around 7 million at the 10:00 hour M-F. Can Leno average 5.25 mil for
the week? If a 10:00 Leno program costs less than 2/3 of a one hour
drama, and gets 3/4 of the ratings, it seems like NBC will be ahead.
So affiliates are supposed to be happy with 20 percent less lead in on the 11 o'clock news?
Leno's stand up is excellent. His interviews are deathly dull. He's going to see major tune out when he has to compete against PlayStation 3, people checking their email before they go to bed or catching up on something they've TiVoed. It's going to be exposed at 10 p.m. when he basically had more of a captive audience at 11:30 p.m.
I think NBC is trying to buy some time in case Conan blows at 11:30 p.m. THen they can put Leno back in there.
Ron Casalotti
Leno a differentiation from the NY/LA scene; opens opportunities for
celebrity guests not currently in NY/LA providing Conan with a bit of
a buffer; provides plenty of 'average folk' for 'JayWalking'; allows
Jay to do the occasional yet regular stand-up gig; has wild and crazy
conventions and gatherings ripe for derision and satire; and has
plenty of suburban room for all of his classic cars. Also, as an
additional differentiator, broadcast it live.
Ron Casalotti
Wayne, NJ
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
LIVE is already on the menu.
M-D November
big plastic chestplate from "Wrath of Khan" on display in the lobby?)
M-D
KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
M-D November
earlier, although you might be on to something - Vegas has no shortage
of celebrities, oddities & regular folk, and it's close enough to LA
to make the trip shorter than, say, NY for guests. I'd be up for a
live broadcast too, but it'd look odd if something big happened on
Leno's show and then there's no reference to it on Conan or Fallon.
In thinking about this further, I'm really upset, because save for
FOX's animation lineup on Sunday, pretty much all of the broadcast TV
I watch is on NBC. I might end up having to go on a cable-only diet.
Or just give up altogether.
Michael
> I think NBC could do a lot worse than renting either the
> Doolittle/Huntington Hartford/Ricardo Montalban or Henry Fonda
> Theatres in Hollywood, going live, and emulating Steve Allen's show
> and turning Leno and his guests loose on the tourist trade. ABC tried
> it for a while with Kimmel, but I think this would be right up Jay's
> alley.
>
> --Dave Sikula
so if this gives Jay a license for all-"Jaywalking," all the time, I
won't even have a passing intetest in watching.
PGage
7.5 million viewers at the 10:00 hour (I had guestemated 7 million
last night). Leno would have to average around 5.5 million (5.64
actually) to get to 75% of the current 10:00 pm viewership. I think
that is reasonable (remember, AB estimated that Leno would get 5.2
million if he duplicates his percentage of HUT at 10:00 that he gets
at 11:35). AB thinks Leno will out perform current 10:00 shows on
Monday and Friday, and probably Thursday (compared not to ER, now on
its last legs, but to what he expects its replacement to do). He also
thinks Leno might do 10 Million on Thursdays during sweeps, with a 30
Rock growing as a lead-in.
Tom Wolper
>
> Data posted by AB today lead to the conclusion that NBC is averaging
> 7.5 million viewers at the 10:00 hour (I had guestemated 7 million
> last night). Leno would have to average around 5.5 million (5.64
> actually) to get to 75% of the current 10:00 pm viewership. I think
> that is reasonable (remember, AB estimated that Leno would get 5.2
> million if he duplicates his percentage of HUT at 10:00 that he gets
> at 11:35). AB thinks Leno will out perform current 10:00 shows on
> Monday and Friday, and probably Thursday (compared not to ER, now on
> its last legs, but to what he expects its replacement to do). He also
> thinks Leno might do 10 Million on Thursdays during sweeps, with a 30
> Rock growing as a lead-in.
If advertisers will be happy with those numbers (and demographics) at
the May upfronts, who are we to argue?
As for drawing 10M for a Thursday in sweeps, I don't see how Leno
could do it. That means doubling the number of viewers he gets now.
Tom W
Kevin M.
--
Kevin M. (RPCV)
Karla Robinson
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#28148993
the execs are touting it as "dvr-proof". Hmmmm.
-----Original Message-----
From: tvor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvor...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Kevin M.
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 11:05 PM
To: tvor...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Leno to stay at NBC
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
money quote (TV Week):
The host of “The Jay Leno Show” doesn’t expect to beat first-run
versions of the scripted dramas it will compete with at 10 p.m.
weeknights starting in fall 2009.
He doesn’t have to, said Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment.
“We are not trying to compete,” Mr. Graboff said.
Instead, NBC, which has been increasingly uncompetitive at 10 o’clock,
will concentrate on developing more competitive programming for the two
hours that will provide Mr. Leno’s lead-in.
And every 11 p.m. newscast loves that!
Kevin M.
<tom...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
> "We are not trying to compete," Mr. Graboff said.
There's an ego shot aimed at Leno. The exec is stating he is
intentionally backing a losing horse. Words every stockholder will
love to read.
--
Kevin M. (RPCV)
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
>
> There's an ego shot aimed at Leno. The exec is stating he is
> intentionally backing a losing horse. Words every stockholder will
> love to read.
They could have put him on at 8, the timeslot that gets the worst
ratings. (Why "Big Brother" really likes it at 9, not outta content
reasoning).
Will Law & Order do better closer to the "family hour?" A move the PTC
and such have gotta love. Granted, people will then have "SVU" vs CSI
classic and "Criminal Minds."
Why (aside from ER ending) wouldn't the news shows prefer a procedural
to Leno? That whole people getting their news outta
Letterman/Leno/Comedy Central meme would suggest that a lenologue at 10
p.m. would give people a reason not to "stay tuned for your local news."
PGage
I'm not sure about that - after all, Leno made the same point himself
on Countdown. They are not competing with other 10:00 shows, they are
trying to earn more money than it costs to make the show. As far as
local news is concerned, while the ratings may be down 20-25% on
average, there will be 2 or 3 nights when they are higher, and a
higher percent of Leno watchers are likely to stick around to see
local news anyway, so I bet they will come out okay in the end.
Leno made a point on Countdown that I had not thought of previously -
he will still be doing 40+ weeks per year. So NBC and local news can
also factor in relatively higher ratings in the summer compared to
repeats of NBC dramas.
The bad news - KO indicated that Leno is planing on bringing the
entire format with him to 10:00. Yikes,
Insight into Leno: being interviewed by Keith he displayed the
intelligent, likable guy we remember from the old Letterman show, and
saw glimpses of during the strike (and almost always see when he is
being interviewed). But in talking about the process of deciding on
the 10:00 show, he said that he is a believer in low self-esteem,
never things anything he does is any good until other people tell him
he likes it. I suppose that insecurity is common among many
performers, but Leno seems to suffer from it to the extreme, and it
seems to be the source of his pandering, low common denominator take
on the Tonight Show, which he seems to be determined to bring with him
to 10:00. I think this may prove to be his big problem - how can The
Office and 30 Rock be edgier and riskier at the 9:00 hour than Leno is
willing to be at 10:00? Maybe the brass was right in their original
impulse to put Leno on at 8:00?
Karla Robinson
Instead, NBC, which has been increasingly uncompetitive at 10 o'clock,
will concentrate on developing more competitive programming for the two
hours that will provide Mr. Leno's lead-in.
And every 11 p.m. newscast loves that!
Karla replied:
And have you seen the beta versions of their O&O webpage redesigns? They
don't have any local news personality pictures on them at all, or any local
branding of any kind; NBC thinks they can become a "local web portal" on the
order of a Yahoo or google, I guess. If I were a local news broadcaster,
I'd be unhappy about all of that; the Leno thing is just more fuel to what
should be an already burning fire.....
KR
Kevin M.
> I'm not sure about that - after all, Leno made the same point himself
> on Countdown. They are not competing with other 10:00 shows, they are
> trying to earn more money than it costs to make the show. As far as
> local news is concerned, while the ratings may be down 20-25% on
> average, there will be 2 or 3 nights when they are higher, and a
> higher percent of Leno watchers are likely to stick around to see
> local news anyway, so I bet they will come out okay in the end.
That is a cop-out on the part of Leno and the execs. It is lowering
the bar. "We will suck profitably" is something prostitutes should
say, not the producer/host of a TV series.
Also, though I haven't seen the most recent numbers, so much money in
television is being made off of DVD sales (and, ultimately, online
purchases will turn a profit, too, as downloading technology
improves), but that's money NBC isn't likely to see from Leno's show.
Barring some sort of "Best of" compilation, I have to believe people
would be less likely to buy DVDs of "The Jay Leno Show" than any given
reality series (most of which tank as DVD sets).
So, NBC is going with a show they know won't achieve high ratings
(affiliate heads will love that, by the way), and the show won't earn
them DVD revenues. And, by playing this time-shifting game, they've
potentially muddied their own long standing late night dominance
(plus, if Fallon fails against Craig, they lose in a whole other way).
--
Kevin M. (RPCV)
PGage
> So, NBC is going with a show they know won't achieve high ratings
> (affiliate heads will love that, by the way), and the show won't earn
> them DVD revenues. And, by playing this time-shifting game, they've
> potentially muddied their own long standing late night dominance
> (plus, if Fallon fails against Craig, they lose in a whole other way).
Your point implies that the alternative is a show they know will
achieve high ratings - but NBC has not shown much ability to do that
lately. the L&Os and ER are the only 10:00 programs that have
attracted more viewers than the Leno show is likely to attract.
What NBC is really saying is that that they will go with a show that
they know is going to achieve middle of the road ratings. It is a safe
strategy, not a sexy or daring one. As a viewer I am bummed because I
like "My Own Worst Enemy" and I hate the Leno Tonight Show, but it
seems like a pretty good strategy on NBC part given the environment.
With ER going off the air NBC would have to come up with three 10:00
shows for next year (assuming the L&Os still have enough legs to pull
in 8 mil+ viewers next year). How many pilots and under performing
shows would NBC have to pay for to find 3 programs on their schedule
that will do better than what the Leno show will average? They may
underperform 2 nights a week at 10:00 (but then they will be able to
put those two shows back at 9:00, making their remaining schedule
stronger) but I think over the next couple of years you will find most
corporations would trade speculative upsides for reliable but middling
performance. This seems to me to be risk management in uncertain
times.
And, since NBC is on record as considering getting out of the 10:00 pm
programming business anyway, there is not a lot of downside for them.
If the Leno experiment tanks, they can just transition to the 2
hour/night primetime schedule.
Joe Hass
ET and running Leno and O'Brien and Fallon back-to-back-to-back? If I
were an NBC affiliate GM, I'd be thinking that if the network is
effectively conceding 10, why not move my local news up there?
And wouldn't that be the ultimate middle-finger to O'Brien?
On Dec 10, 12:19 am, "Karla Robinson"
scruffy
> Also up on msnbc.com, at this url:
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#28148993
>
> the execs are touting it as "dvr-proof". Hmmmm.
seems like just yesterday we were being told that no one watched live
tv at 10 because they were too busy watching programs they recorded
earlier in the night.
Gary
in prime time... but the second half hour with the second guest and
musical act? That will die a horrible death in prime time. And that’s
going to be the lead-in to the 11pm local news! There’ll be an
affiliate revolt!
Gary
Bob in Jersey
scruffy, to Karla:
> seems like just yesterday we were being told that no one
> watched live tv at 10 because they were too busy watching
> programs they recorded earlier in the night.
--
BOB
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Ed Dravecky
> "We are not trying to compete," Mr. Graboff said.
That's the kind of forward-thinking, go-getter attitude that has NBC
placing 5th behind a Spanish-language network some weeks. They should
use "We are not trying to compete" as their slogan for mid-season.
(Although I think scheduling "Momma's Boys" and "Superstars of Dance"
says this better than any possible slogan.)
--
Ed Dravecky III
http://www.fencon.org/
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
> Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire <tom...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
>> He doesn't have to, said Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment.
>> "We are not trying to compete," Mr. Graboff said.
>
> That's the kind of forward-thinking, go-getter attitude that has NBC
> placing 5th behind a Spanish-language network some weeks. They should
> use "We are not trying to compete" as their slogan for mid-season.
Olympics 2010: Watch Micheal Phelps run track & field.
M-D November
or speed skate instead.
On Dec 12, 8:34 am, "Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire"
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
> 2010 is the winter games, so you can watch Michael Phelps figure and/
> or speed skate instead.
Triathalon...
scruffy
>
>
> scruffy, to Karla:
>> seems like just yesterday we were being told that no one
>> watched live tv at 10 because they were too busy watching
>> programs they recorded earlier in the night.
>
> YACS... http://snurl.com/7ritg
which the NUTS suits must be hoping will inspire yet another TiVo
Guilt column as millions of viewers forego watching their recorded
programs at 10 because they are mesmerized by the apparition of Jay
Leno at an earlier hour.
M-D November
(ski...shoot...ski...shoot...)
On Dec 12, 2:07 pm, "Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire"
Tom Wolper
>
> Also a summer event. You're thinking of Biathlon
> (ski...shoot...ski...shoot...)
And you're thinking of the governor of Alaska.
Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire
> Also a summer event. You're thinking of BIathalon
> (ski...shoot...ski...shoot...)
Tom's knowledge of sports rivals his knowledge of heterosexual NYC strip
clubs. But I did have Claudine Longet's album back at the college radio
station.
Bob in Jersey
Sir Tom, to Ed Dravecky:
> Olympics 2010: Watch Micheal Phelps run track & field.
London, 2012.
--
BOB
____________________________________________________________
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Bob in Jersey
Karla Robinson, to Sir Tom:
> And have you seen the beta versions of their O&O webpage
> redesigns? They don't have any local news personality
> pictures on them at all
They'll be on this page (or similar on other site):
www.nbcwashington.com/station/newsteam
--
BOB
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