The Jay Leno Situation...

Gaspin's idea is a potentially brilliant way to keep viewers hooked through all three shows. While the proposed shorter formats barely give the audience time to change the channel, they also might not provide enough depth to build audience loyalty. There simply isn't enough time.

Ad-revenue on a :30 format is a lot less than what you get for :60 and longer show formats. Prime-time network sitcoms are the obvious exception to this. Late-night news and fringe dayparts are historically a much lower buy. With 12 - 20 minutes of ads, you can cover it. In a :30 format in late-night fringe (6 minutes of advertising), I don't see how they can cover the hard costs associated with these shows.

Mikko - I don't think many of today's viewers would tune in to Leno (or any other host) once a week for a one-hour variety / late-night recap format. Obviously, you could point to the success Bill Maher's show has had at HBO (subscription-based, therefore not comparable) and use that anecdotal evidence to support the concept.

This poorly-conceived and costly programming debacle is the kind of thing that gives shareholders the itch to see heads roll and nobody should be surprised when some shows go away because of it.
 
Well that sums it up, I'd now expect Conan to take the FOX deal that is on the table and go head to head with Jay at 11:35pm. I'd even be willing to bet Conan will now take less money for the FOX deal.

It's to bad because Jay never screwed anyone, the network execs did and Jay takes the heat for it.

Leno, Letterman and Conan head to head at 11:35 will be interesting. I'd bet it happens sooner than we think.
 
FER-GU-SON FER-GU-SON FER-GU-SON

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Conan does have the most powerfull agent in the biz (Ari), I bet heads are rolling right now and a major announcment will come by next week.
 
From what I was reading somewhere, he can chill for the next 4 years and bank 80 million, or if he takes another job with another network, whatever he makes there, offsets the amount that NBC owes him. either way, he's making at least 20 mil a year for the next 4 years is what it sounds like. Not sure how or if that 45 million dollar payout clause plays into that though.

But, yeah. Like him or not, that statement is pretty dead on.

Later,
Jason
 
I totally agree with Coco's statement.

Leno went back on his word (that we was going to retire) and screwed it up; NBC decided to try taking it up to the next level, in what I think was a great experiment (it could have been huge, and I'm all for trying new stuff to break the monotonous mold that is Network TV); but it flopped - and that's fine. But they should cut the losses and find something else to do with Leno than screw over the rest of the night.

- Mikko
 
Good statement by a good man. And seemingly one of the few smart men left at NBC. Change something that's been working like clockwork for 60 years!? good luck, morons...
 
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