[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not about the comedy....it's about the ratings.... There's no argument that Leno's 10 PM show crashed and burned. However, Conan's ratings, before the recent on-air fights began, has not been spectacular either. If you're NBC, would you give more time to Conan, hoping that his ratings will eventually improve? Or will you hire back the guy that has kept "The Tonight Show" #1 for a whole decade (if not longer), before Conan? Let's say NBC stick it out with Conan and the ratings doesn't improve after a year? What would you do then? I am not sure whether Leno is contractually allowed to get another show on another network after his 10PM show failed....but what if he can? I think NBC is scared that Leno will get another show elsewhere while Conan's ratings doesn't improve. Given that "The Tonight Show" can generate ad revenue of over $120 million each year, the decision to dump Conan and rehire Leno is a financial one, and not an artistic one.

actually... it's not quite so simple, and this isn't totally accurate.

Leno lost soundly to Letterman in the ratings for the first two years he was on the air. however, NBC was ratings king in the mid-90s, as were all the late local news from the affiliates. CBS was pretty much in the tank. then, after Hugh Grant showed up on Leno right after being arrested with a prostitute, Leno's ratings spiked and stuck.

so, a couple of things: strong lead-in, robust network with heavy promotion, and a network that stuck with him for a couple of seasons. all things that Conan never got:

1. NBC's ratings are in the toilet in general... hard to promote the Tonight Show in a prime time with no viewers.
2. Leno has been hemmorhaging viewers at 10pm, which killed the late local news, which killed Conan's lead-in.
3. Conan's numbers were slowly picking up, but NBC gave him less than half the time Leno got to get his show in gear. i'm not saying he would have roared back to life... but he deserved more time.

HOWEVER... and this is probably the most important thing... Conan's median viewer age is a full TEN YEARS YOUNGER than Letterman, Leno or Nightline's audience. for advertisers that is huge... it's the prime demographic that they're looking for.

so to say that Conan's ratings were the reason he got the boot is just not true... NBC is using it as an excuse, and ultimately their decision will be proven to have been a terrible one. I predict Leno will not get his old audience back.

 

[fenixdown110]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax /img/forum/go_quote.gif HOWEVER... and this is probably the most important thing... Conan's median viewer age is a full TEN YEARS YOUNGER than Letterman, Leno or Nightline's audience. for advertisers that is huge... it's the prime demographic that they're looking for. so to say that Conan's ratings were the reason he got the boot is just not true... NBC is using it as an excuse, and ultimately their decision will be proven to have been a terrible one. I predict Leno will not get his old audience back.

Very very good point. We'll just have to see what happens.

 

[derek800]

Conan's final tonight show last night was really good, I'm going to miss watching him, I don't think I will be watching Leno when he is back on. I hope that after Sept. 1 Conan can work something out with Fox and do his latenight show at 11 pm.

 

[dongringo]

Even though I preferred Conan, I used to watch TTS with Leno because Conan was on too late. After all this, I won't go back to watching Leno at all. Leno should have just retired or done something else instead of expecting Conan to be pushed to after midnight, which in turn would have completely screwed Fallon and Daly. Conan was thinking of the others. Leno thought of noone but himself.

 

[derek800]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dongringo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even though I preferred Conan, I used to watch TTS with Leno because Conan was on too late. After all this, I won't go back to watching Leno at all. Leno should have just retired or done something else instead of expecting Conan to be pushed to after midnight, which in turn would have completely screwed Fallon and Daly. Conan was thinking of the others. Leno thought of noone but himself.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Redo]

I'll miss Leno in the 9pm slot. The late shows are too late for me to catch, and I enjoyed watching his monologues.

Plus I really don't care about the Leno vs Conan thing, it means nothing to me. I don't know any of these guys personally, it's all choreographed hooey as far as I'm concerned. If Leno is aggravating the Hollywood crowd then more power to him

 

[LFF]