The NBC timeslot fiasco

[Soulweaver]

This is about the talk show arrangements of the NBC broadcasting company and the following consequences.
If you don't know about it, read here.

I've been a fan of late night shows for several years, starting with Late Night with Conan O'Brien (since it was the only show airing in Finland back then). Lately I haven't been able to watch the late night shows due to excessive amounts of homework for the preparation for the nearing important exams, but tonight I decided to watch the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien again.

I was just terrified when I realized that O'Brien had just left NBC - that is, I just randomly happened to watch the final episode of the show (which apparently aired last Friday in the States). I had to look up for information about the situation and eventually read all about the time slot disagreement.

Because I started with Conan, I might be a little biased, but I never really found Jay Leno's, Jimmy Kimmel's nor David Letterman's shows nearly as entertaining as O'Brien's. Thus I'm very angry it had to come to this point, where one of the best talk show hosts is semi-forced to leave his show.

What do you think about this all? Did NBC do the right decision? Should Leno have tried to change the situation? Which talk show do you prefer?

Note: it's over 2AM local time as I'm writing, and I'm still a little shocked, so this starting post may be a little "messy". Please bear with that.

 

[Falconwing]

well, I'm a Jay Fan and an anti-Conan person, but even so I think this is kinda ridiculous. But oh well. It's NBC. They ruin everything.

 

[Martonimos]

I've always liked Leno, so I'm sad to see he's being made out to be the villain here. He's definitely shown support for Conan, although I can't guarantee the wisdom of him making jokes about the network for which he works. I don't really watch the shows anyway, but I sympathize with those fans of Conan who are sad to see him go, and can only encourage them to wait for his eventual triumphant return.

 

[Rayne]

The Fallout

Yes, if there's blame to be had, look at NBC execs if you want to. There is a ratings blame game going on, but whatever. Conan attracted most of the younger audience, the 18-49 demographic (AKA me). Yes he was a big hit with the young crowd, colleges especially. It showed in his audience. Leno is known for taking in the rest of the demographic, anyone over 50. The problem with this? The kids like to watch over that fangled new interwebs. Ad revenues are uncertain with this base and leads to fewer revenue. Ratings are a hard metric to gather these days with prolific internet viewing, but in order to see how something successful something is, you need to look at the numbers and anything is better than nothing (Some aren't sure if the ratings were to blame seeing the very public outcry of support for Conan's leave as indication of his popularity but it wasn't in any way that was lining NBC's wallet so how could they know). NBC was already hemorrhaging money by loosing ratings with Leno's 10PM timeslot and wanted to reclaim it so they figured after the Olympics, they were going to move Leno back to his old time slot where he originally conquered and unfortunately where Conan didn't have quite the same pull before the move. This would mean Conan had to be pushed back.

After that, well the monkeys had a field day and the proverbial shit hit the fan.

Conan waited patiently for almost a decade to make the move to the Tonight Show. To have the 'spirit' of it yanked from him in less than a year into his stint just broke him. Leno isn't so much a bad guy as he was caught in an unfortunate suspension with NBC. The media only tears him apart because at the end of his Tonight Show run, he said he was done. He came back. NBC let it happen. NBC ruined themselves. During the fiasco, he was fairly mum about the deal and at the end he had very little to say to Conan. It's not so much his thoughts and feelings about it but lack thereof and what he could have done to stop it from happening. Leno could have been the better man in this, and pass the torch to the younger guys but instead gets to hold onto it for a little longer. He just couldn't let a good thing go and Conan couldn't be moved. Both are being stubborn in their own ways, but the apparent actions of their movements ruminated on two different ends of the spectrum. Many viewed Conan's act as selfless and passionate while Jay's was viewed as passive and selfish.

My Experience

There was a time I enjoyed Leno and Conan back to back albeit they were more background noise in my dorm room days. However, one personality began to stand out. He was quirky and his jokes were crude but had a spark of intelligence. He was not overtly serious, but he did have a serious passion that emanated from every interview. Conan brought his crew into the limelight, it wasn't just his show, he made all the inner workings shine. He showed heart in every episode and he did it with class. This man executed perhaps one of the best night runs imaginable in my eyes and I'll forever miss his run during Late Night as well as the Tonight Show.

I'll admit I didn't have enough time to catch his show during the summer run due to an immensely busy schedule. With my short winter break I did manage to finally catch him and unfortunately the fallout with NBC.

Watching his closing acts only reinforced the immense respect I have for the guy. He kept his acts clean yet still managed sidelong glances at his problem with NBC. He paid tribute when due during the Haitian earthquake crisis. Whatever raw emotion he had for NBC, he managed to keep a genuine straight face and charismatic attitude right through to the end. Even his guest stars like Adam Sandler were trying to make the guy bawl out over the fiasco, trying to make him 'give in' and rip them a few. Shoot, even the actors did it for him. [I couldn't help but smirk when Robin Williams flipped a few birds over the LA backdrop]. But no. He didn't throw any punches even though he was well within his right to (By the final episode at least). Instead he acknowledged his differences and thanked everyone one for support, his crew, the fans and yes even NBC. He is a man of his people. This was his passion to be shared by all.

I watched him through to the end. I was sad to see him go the first time from Late Night last year since simultaneously, it was like closing a chapter on my life as well, finishing up college and all.

Doing it again so soon is just crippling.

tl;dr:

I'm sorely going to miss him.

 

[Legacy]

I'm a huge Conan fan. His comedy is seen as raunchy or too dirty by older viewers, but it really is genius and hilarious IMO.

NBC is the real villain in this situation, not necessarily Jay Leno. NBC was the one who promised Conan the Tonight Show in order to prevent him from going to another network years ago. They sort of forced Leno out at that time, despite it appearing as though Leno was simply retiring.

Fast forward to 2009, when Conan finally took over the Tonight Show. NBC gives Leno the stupid 10:00 slot to try to appease the Leno faithful and try for greater ratings in that time slot.

But it all backfired. Leno was abysmal in that time slot. Law and Order and the other dramas that they had previously had at that time were far superior in terms of ratings.

NBC should have decided years ago whether or not they wanted to stay with Leno longterm and risk Conan leaving or give Conan the Tonight Show and say goodbye to Leno. Instead they were greedy and it's bitten them in the ass.

NBC (and Leno) take a huge PR hit here IMO. They (NBC) and Leno are now seen as villains here, while Conan is seen as the victim.

It will be interesting to see how the ratings play out and where Conan ends up. Rumors online say Fox may be already negotiating with him.