As most reading probably already know, Jay Leno is not retiring but rather moving up earlier in the night to a daily 10 p.m. spot, washing away NBC’s entire late-night show line-up.
Now Variety’s reporting that member’s NBC’s affiliate board (members of a board of several companies that own different portions of the whole of NBC) are getting a little nervous. And rightfully so.
From the Variety article “NBC affiliates nervous about Leno” by Michael Schneider:”Peacock affils are nervously waiting to see how NBC’s plans to strip Leno on weeknights at 10 p.m. evolve — and more importantly, how it impacts their business.At least one station — Boston’s WHDH — is already threatening not to air Leno at all, preferring to run local news in the hour instead.For Peacock affils, the Leno experiment couldn’t have come at a more difficult time.In an age where advertising is drying up, revenues are shrinking and viewers have plenty of other news options, the Leno move is making plenty of station execs jittery.
This is a big gamble for the big television studio, no matter how established Leno is by now. The assumption that those who watched Leno at 11:30 will switch up their schedules just to keep watching is a big one. And who’s to say viewers won’t just “settle” for Conan O’Brien in the same slot? The man will probably kill that time slot in ways Leno never even dared (sorry Jay). However, with the recent passing of “ER,” NBC’s late-night shows dried up for good, as also mentioned in Schneider’s article. Do they expect Leno to be the rejuvenating factor?
NBC weekdays will shortly become bottom-heavy with late-night comedy, with four, cout ’em, FOUR acts (or 3 and a half, depending on how we count good ole Carson Daly at the twilight hour). And I never thought that Leno was the best in terms of the late-night crop. His comedy also feels to dependent on Kevin’s cymbol crash.
What do you think? Will Leno’s move help or hurt NBC?