ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 This caught my eye tonight. Since Kimmel has moved to 11:35e he is in fierce competition with Leno in the 18-49 demo. Yet, Fallon holds his own with this age group. Sources are suggesting that Leno may make an exit from the network. My only thought is, "Here we go again!" (Article credit: Kim Masters at The Hollywood Reporter) Is NBC preparing to announce Jay Leno's departure from The Tonight Show? The network says categorically no, but two high-level industry sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that NBC is moving toward a May announcement that the 2013-14 television season will be the last for Leno as host of the long-running late-night show. Sources expect the network to move Jimmy Fallon from his Late Nightspot into the coveted 11:35 time slot with a soft launch during the summer of 2014 before a formal fall kickoff. A Leno rep says, "We do not speculate on rumor." Whether the network finally executes the Tonight transition plan remains to be seen. Anyone with even a passing sense of Leno’s personality knows that the hardworking comic would be reluctant to leave his perch, especially before his rival at CBS, David Letterman, announces his retirement. Leno and Letterman are both signed through 2014. Sources believe the network will bring in Fallon partly out of concern about the competition on ABC, which moved younger-skewing Jimmy Kimmel to the 11:35 time slot in January. “The more time Jimmy Kimmel is in that slot, the more the young audience goes that way, the harder it is for Jimmy [Fallon] to keep that audience,” says a source familiar with the network’s thinking. Leno's Tonight still performs well for NBC, regularly besting his late-night rivals. But Kimmel is competitive in the 18-49 demo. "Kimmel has done extremely well," a network veteran says, adding that he is unaware of any contemplated Leno move. "Jay wins overall, but on any given night, it's neck-and-neck in 18-49. I understand where they might have fear and also feel that they own the solution [in Fallon.]" Comcast, which owns NBC, in August imposed layoffs at Tonight. At the time, Leno took a big pay-cut from his reported $30 million salary. NBC could also be concerned that if Letterman does retire in 2014, CBS would be looking for a replacement, potentially opening the door to a bare-knuckles battle for Fallon that could mirror a previous tussle involving Conan O’Brien. In 2004, then-NBC head Jeff Zucker promised the then-Late Night host he would inherit The Tonight Show in 2009 as part of his deal to re-up with the network. But when NBC installed O'Brien at Tonight and moved Leno to 10 p.m., the strategy backfired, leading to an embarrassing feud and a costly 2010 settlement with O'Brien, who now hosts a show on TBS. If NBC elects to announce the Leno-Fallon transition at or before the May upfronts, one observer adds, the network would “get the benefit of selling Jay’s last year -- again.” My guess is that, yes Leno might be let go, but he will immediately be snapped up by another network and NBC will not create a failing Primetime 'live' program. Could you imagine Leno getting a daytime talker on OWN or elsewhere? Or do you think it would be another Tonight Show style program at 11:35e? Could ABC bump Kimmel (and kill Nightline) and could this bite NBC in the ass again? What do you think will happen? I half believe that Leno is so in love with his job and is in the highest demand that his retirement will be announced on an NBC News Special Report when his lifeless corpse (which he seriously is now) is carted out of his Beverly Hills home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVNewsLover 727 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Nightline used to actually win its time slot when it was at 11:35. Stupid move to oust Leno. Let him leave on his own terms. While I like Fallon, I don't think he's ready to move up yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5276 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6sdhYkFfyg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6sdhYkFfyg That is very believable. Leno might actually be that smug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigz1 9 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Yeah, I don't see anyway possible Leno goes to daytime, but perhaps he'll try to muster up his "juices" so to speak and try to get a late-nighter in syndication, sort of like Arsenio has for later this year. Personally speaking, I can't wait for Leno to leave. The way the whole first saga went on rubbed me the wrong way with him....as well as NBC for that matter. I would love to meet the person(s) who thought it was a good idea to put a talk show on at 10PM every single night? Surely they knew other networks turn to news during that time--wait, let me stop myself before I give NBC too much credit for thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Yeah, I don't see anyway possible Leno goes to daytime, but perhaps he'll try to muster up his "juices" so to speak and try to get a late-nighter in syndication, sort of like Arsenio has for later this year. Personally speaking, I can't wait for Leno to leave. The way the whole first saga went on rubbed me the wrong way with him....as well as NBC for that matter. I would love to meet the person(s) who thought it was a good idea to put a talk show on at 10PM every single night? Surely they knew other networks turn to news during that time--wait, let me stop myself before I give NBC too much credit for thinking. NBC? Thinking??? What? Well... You're just a stupid head! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 1110 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Everyone will laugh at me, but I swear this is going to happen. Jay Leno Tonight, CNN, 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Everyone will laugh at me, but I swear this is going to happen. Jay Leno Tonight, CNN, 2014. I'm not laughing. That is very believable since Zucker has become the president of CNN. Think about this: Pierce Morgan is not as big a household name as Jay Leno. By this logic, if Morgan can get a show, then so can Leno. How is Morgan in the ratings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigz1 9 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I'm not laughing. That is very believable since Zucker has become the president of CNN. Think about this: Pierce Morgan is not as big a household name as Jay Leno. By this logic, if Morgan can get a show, then so can Leno. How is Morgan in the ratings? I found this over here.... says that PMT had the lowest ratings for a primetime CNN show in 21 years last year. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/03/01/piers-morgan-tonight-hits-yearly-low-in-25-54-demographic/171495/ I'm sure the recent election had to have brought the ratings up a bit, but it's down 27% in total viewers and 38% from its 1/17/11 premiere. Quite a far cry from King days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Looks like it's a done deal. Fallon will be the successor of Tonight Show. Fallon will stay in NYC and it will begin after the Sochi game in '14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOneManHerd 553 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Looks like it's a done deal. Fallon will be the successor of Tonight Show. Fallon will stay in NYC and it will begin after the Sochi game in '14. And Leno will probably be back in time for the 2014 midterms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 743 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 And Leno will probably be back in time for the 2014 midterms. Also, someone made a mention of Seth Meyers possibly taking the place of Fallon on Late Night, but nothing's official on that end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5276 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Also, someone made a mention of Seth Meyers possibly taking the place of Fallon on Late Night, but nothing's official on that end. If Seth gets Late Night, they should make it into a Daily Show/Weekend Update-style "news" program...without the politics of Stewart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 If Seth gets Late Night, they should make it into a Daily Show/Weekend Update-style "news" program...without the politics of Stewart. Considering all other night talk shows are cut out of the same exact mold and have the same basic formula (with decided exception to Craig Ferguson, because CBS Cares), that could work. Throw in an extended interview or two under a similar setup to what Tom Snyder had and Charlie Rose has, too... loosely conducted and humorous without getting too wonky, political or boring. If NBC actually was thinking, they'd have "Tonight" go for 90 minutes, then have Seth have an hour-long show like that under the "Tomorrow" banner. (Yes, I'm advocating for the "Late Night" banner to finally be retired.) Yeah, that would mean Carson Daly wouldn't have his show, but really. Oh, wait... NBC? Thinking??? What? Well... You're just a stupid head! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Everyone will laugh at me, but I swear this is going to happen. Jay Leno Tonight, CNN, 2014. It's not like Larry King was this gung-ho journalist superstar when CNN picked him up. He was a talk radio host, but in a light-conversation, Fairness Doctrine-era manner. I actually think Leno on CNN might just work. Who said that Leno wants yet another nighttime yuk-a-minute talk show with a house band, announcer and a 15 minute monologue? Plus it's also possible that Zucker might wish to make amends to Leno after the Tonight Show Host Conflict of 2010 by extending such an offer. I know I'd watch Leno over Hannity or Rachel Maddow any day of the week. And hopefully he'd carry a 'Headline'-style segment of sorts over. I found this over here.... says that PMT had the lowest ratings for a primetime CNN show in 21 years last year. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/03/01/piers-morgan-tonight-hits-yearly-low-in-25-54-demographic/171495/ I'm sure the recent election had to have brought the ratings up a bit, but it's down 27% in total viewers and 38% from its 1/17/11 premiere. Quite a far cry from King days. Add to that the whole Sandy Hook affair, which made Piers a critical darling of sorts for his nightly gun-control crusade (and disastrous interview with Alex Jones) but has resulted in ratings bupkis. If people don't want to watch, they aren't going to watch. I would like to hope that Piers is on borrowed time under the new CNN management, and they are just letting his contract run out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
News 9 Viewer 100 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 I love Seth Meyers (Granite Staters FTW), but while having him host a Daily Show like program with the Tomorrow name would make sense, I'd hate to see him leave SNL because the only reason I occasionally tune into that show is to see him do Weekend Update (though Bill Hader is funny sometimes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country News 435 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Looks like FOX might try to pick up Leno. The head of Fox’s powerful affiliate board said he favors building a new late-night show starting at 11 o’clock around the departing “Tonight Show” host. “If Fox were to present the right business plan, the affiliate board would be interested,” Steve Pruett, the board chairman, told The Post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 Looks like FOX might try to pick up Leno. That's not a good fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 At this point, FOX is desperate to get things going seeing as the network has lost quite a bit of viewers this tv season. Jay Leno is pretty smart and playing up all this hype, because in the end he will greatly benefit from it. Not only will he get a big fat check on his way out, presumably he is also being courted by the likes of FOX and CNN so that keeps his stock high. Not to mention that he's on top in ratings. It might not be a bad idea for FOX to experiment with a late night talk show, hey if it doesn't work then they can always pull the plug after a few years- they've done worse with other programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 291 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 They've already tried late night talk on Fox, and it got them pretty much nowhere. Chevy Chase Show, anyone? Or their latest late-night bomb, Wanda Sykes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC 7 Denver 1554 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 They've already tried late night talk on Fox' date=' and it got them pretty much nowhere. [i']Chevy Chase Show[/i], anyone? Or their latest late-night bomb, Wanda Sykes. I did kind of enjoy Talkshow with Spike Feresten. These days I find even Conan boring, maybe that's because I enjoy political satirist Bill Maher. On a interesting fact back on topic, Jimmy Fallon has had worse ratings in his 4 year stint on Late Night than Conan had did during his 11 years. If Conan's rating in the Tonight Show were not as good as Leno's were/are, then by transference, we can assume that Jimmy Fallon's ratings will be worse than Conan on the Tonight Show. And if Jay Leno re-assumed the helm of the Tonight Show after Conan's unsuccessful ratings, who would want to bet that Leno will be back when a worse ratings fiasco happens with Jimmy!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
News 9 Viewer 100 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 I did kind of enjoy Talkshow with Spike Feresten. These days I find even Conan boring, maybe that's because I enjoy political satirist Bill Maher. On a interesting fact back on topic, Jimmy Fallon has had worse ratings in his 4 year stint on Late Night than Conan had did during his 11 years. If Conan's rating in the Tonight Show were not as good as Leno's were/are, then by transference, we can assume that Jimmy Fallon's ratings will be worse than Conan on the Tonight Show. And if Jay Leno re-assumed the helm of the Tonight Show after Conan's unsuccessful ratings, who would want to bet that Leno will be back when a worse ratings fiasco happens with Jimmy!? Leno got his job as host of The Tonight Show back not only because its ratings went down during Conan's time as host but more because the ratings of his primetime talk show were abysmal. I think Leno has left The Tonight Show for good this time. Somehow NBC managed to avoid botching this transition, which means there's no bad blood between Jimmy and Jay like there was between Jay and Conan during the botched Tonight Show transition a few years ago. Plus Leno is courting offers from other parties, namely Fox and CBS with CNN as a wildcard. Too bad Speed is becoming FS1. Otherwise I could see Leno doing a show restoring classic cars and trucks like those featured on his website, Jay Leno's Garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Discovery owns a channel in part oriented around automobiles, Velocity. I don't think it's as widely distributed as Speed, but Discovery might think about courting him for such if that ever came up (the main Discovery Channel would also be an option, as they've veered into the direction of being a "men's channel"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Looks like FOX might try to pick up Leno. The head of Fox’s powerful affiliate board said he favors building a new late-night show starting at 11 o’clock around the departing “Tonight Show” host. “If Fox were to present the right business plan, the affiliate board would be interested,” Steve Pruett, the board chairman, told The Post. Isn't that the same affiliate board who pressured Fox not to pick up Conan because they were better off with local revenue from late news and "Office" reruns? Yes, yes they were. Really really. And NOW they want Leno? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 On a interesting fact back on topic, Jimmy Fallon has had worse ratings in his 4 year stint on Late Night than Conan had did during his 11 years. If Conan's rating in the Tonight Show were not as good as Leno's were/are, then by transference, we can assume that Jimmy Fallon's ratings will be worse than Conan on the Tonight Show. And if Jay Leno re-assumed the helm of the Tonight Show after Conan's unsuccessful ratings, who would want to bet that Leno will be back when a worse ratings fiasco happens with Jimmy!? Leno got his job as host of The Tonight Show back not only because its ratings went down during Conan's time as host but more because the ratings of his primetime talk show were abysmal. I think Leno has left The Tonight Show for good this time. Somehow NBC managed to avoid botching this transition, which means there's no bad blood between Jimmy and Jay like there was between Jay and Conan during the botched Tonight Show transition a few years ago. Plus Leno is courting offers from other parties, namely Fox and CBS with CNN as a wildcard. Too bad Speed is becoming FS1. Otherwise I could see Leno doing a show restoring classic cars and trucks like those featured on his website, Jay Leno's Garage. Well, remember that Leno was offered to have "The Jay Leno Show" moved to 11:30, with "Tonight" bumped to 12:05 and "Late Night" bumped to 1:05 ("Last Call" presumably being dropped). The affiliates DEMANDED it because Leno's ratings at 10PM drew viewers away from their 11PM newscasts, and they were close to committing mutiny - remember when WHDH threatened not to carry the show in the first place? Conan vehemently objected that move, but because Conan failed to specify in his contract that the start time of "Tonight" could not be moved beyond its' traditional 11:34PM start time outside of sports coverage, he had no legal leeway. That was how the Great Tonight Show Conflict of 2010 started. Eventually Conan saw no option BUT to leave NBC, and took a contract buyout. Zucker then offered "Tonight" back to Leno. The problem with Jimmy - and this extended to Conan - is that they really aren't mass-appeal. That isn't to say Conan might have done reasonably well on "Tonight" - had Leno not been given the 10PM slot, which in turn, set off the ratings domino effect that got the whole Conflict started to begin with - but Jimmy probably suffers from being too hip... of course, he's a Lorne Micheals prodigy (as was Conan). There's a bit of anarchy in Craig Ferguson's show, but it could easily translate into a mass-appeal show if when he succeeds Letterman. That's partly why his show is regularly topping Jimmy's show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.