NBC ready to screw over Conan

**Wingback** · 01-10-2010, 09:13 PM

The bottom line, as far as NBC is concerned is that Leno cleaned house on Letterman for the past nine or ten years, but since Conan has taken over the Tonight Show, Letterman has kicked his sorry backside. The Tonight Show not winning the ratings war in the 11:30 eastern/10:30 central time slot is unprecidented and NBC can't afford to allow that to continue.

NBC made a serious mistake by bringing a light weight like Conan into that time slot and now they are simply trying to fix the mistake. Is Conan getting the shaft? Possibly. But in television, it's all about ratings and he certainly hasn't done NBC any favors when it comes to ratings. All they know is that they probably win a Leno versus Letterman battle, but they can't win a Conan versus Letterman battle. Do you really blame them for contemplating a switch?

Poor ratings mean low advertising revenue. It's simply business.

**Bobber** · 01-10-2010, 09:37 PM

My bet is Conan goes to Fox. Will be coup for them and will give Leno and Letterman competition.

I think demographics got in the way. Too many Baby Boomers don't get Conan's humor. In another 10 years, they'll be fading and it will be a different ball game.

**alarson** · 01-10-2010, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by Wingback

The bottom line, as far as NBC is concerned is that Leno cleaned house on Letterman for the past nine or ten years, but since Conan has taken over the Tonight Show, Letterman has kicked his sorry backside. The Tonight Show not winning the ratings war in the 11:30 eastern/10:30 central time slot is unprecidented and NBC can't afford to allow that to continue.

NBC made a serious mistake by bringing a light weight like Conan into that time slot and now they are simply trying to fix the mistake. Is Conan getting the shaft? Possibly. But in television, it's all about ratings and he certainly hasn't done NBC any favors when it comes to ratings. All they know is that they probably win a Leno versus Letterman battle, but they can't win a Conan versus Letterman battle. Do you really blame them for contemplating a switch?

Poor ratings mean low advertising revenue. It's simply business.

This whole post is completely misinformed. Advertisers really care about the 18-49 demo. Guess who's winning that one between conan and letterman?

NBC made a committment to conan, then undercut him by putting in a low rated leno show (and note that they even say they never expected it to have good ratings), that also stole away a lot of the best interviews, and got a heck of a lot more network promotion than conan did. Just a pattern of NBC completely screwing Conan from the beginning, with this being just the latest thing.

I hope conan goes to fox at 11\10c

**alarson** · 01-10-2010, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by Bobber

My bet is Conan goes to Fox. Will be coup for them and will give Leno and Letterman competition.

I think demographics got in the way. Too many Baby Boomers don't get Conan's humor. In another 10 years, they'll be fading and it will be a different ball game.

Very true. Part of why they should be sticking with conan like they did with leno when he was getting beat in the ratings early on.

**06Panther** · 01-10-2010, 09:56 PM

They made a promise to Conan many years ago that he could have the tonight show, and that was what stopped him from leaving NBC in the first place. But when Gay Leno's time was up, he wasn't ready to go. And NBC has since completely set Conan up to fail. Total lack of support.

**CyForPresident** · 01-10-2010, 10:50 PM

Conan would absolutely dominate on FOX. He would be on a half hour earlier than either Leno or Letterman and can go back to being Conan and not this uptight host that NBC has made him. Conan is best when he is being Conan. Plus Fox has a younger audience which suits him better.

The problem is that The Tonight Show is Conan's dream. He basically would have to give up the golden ticket and take a chance on FOX. IF he can get a guaranteed deal of 5 years minimum on Fox, he's gone IMO.

The guy no one is talking about is Jimmy Fallon. JF is getting screwed on this too. He's just starting to develop his own style and has really grown on me.
Hulu - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Neil Young Sings Fresh Prince

**dmclone** · 01-11-2010, 08:07 AM

I think all these guys suck and are rarely funny. I liked Letterman about 20 years ago but his routine has gotten very old and now he just seems like a creepy crabby old guy.

**dmclone** · 01-11-2010, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by alarson

This whole post is completely misinformed. Advertisers really care about the 18-49 demo. Guess who's winning that one between conan and letterman?

Looks to me like Leno beats Conan in every single demo including the 18-49

Conan (2009) vs. Jay (2008): A Sharp Decline in ‘Tonight’ Audience - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

**GeronimusClone** · 01-11-2010, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by 06Panther

They made a promise to Conan many years ago that he could have the tonight show, and that was what stopped him from leaving NBC in the first place. But when Gay Leno's time was up, he wasn't ready to go. And NBC has since completely set Conan up to fail. Total lack of support.

I hope he sues their *** for the money he could have made elsewhere instead of sticking around NBC for as long as he did because he knew he was getting TTS. NBC is a failure across the board in their TV shows anyway, so don't know why we're surprised they are ******* this up too.
* I should have said "save for The Office"

**jbhtexas** · 01-11-2010, 09:20 AM

I heard this morning on "Hollywood Insider" Mike Evans' little radio blurb that Lorne Michaels is somehow going to use 30 Rock as leverage against NBC to help out his friends Conan and Jimmy Fallon. I was half asleep so I didn't catch the whole thing, but since Michaels is executive producer of 30 Rock, he could perhaps take it to another network???

**GeronimusClone** · 01-11-2010, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

I heard this morning on "Hollywood Insider" Mike Evans' little radio blurb that Lorne Michaels is somehow going to use 30 Rock as leverage against NBC to help out his friends Conan and Jimmy Fallon. I was half asleep so I didn't catch the whole thing, but since Michaels is executive producer of 30 Rock, he could perhaps take it to another network???

Absolutely he could - see Scrubs.

**MNCyGuy** · 01-11-2010, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by jbhtexas

I heard this morning on "Hollywood Insider" Mike Evans' little radio blurb that Lorne Michaels is somehow going to use 30 Rock as leverage against NBC to help out his friends Conan and Jimmy Fallon. I was half asleep so I didn't catch the whole thing, but since Michaels is executive producer of 30 Rock, he could perhaps take it to another network???

I enjoy 30 Rock and I know it's a critical darling, but does it really get that high of ratings to give Lorne that much leverage?

**Bobber** · 01-11-2010, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by MNCyGuy

I enjoy 30 Rock and I know it's a critical darling, but does it really get that high of ratings to give Lorne that much leverage?

It's about the only NBC show I recognize, so I think the answer to that is yes...

**MNCyGuy** · 01-11-2010, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by Bobber

It's about the only NBC show I recognize, so I think the answer to that is yes...

Might say more about the state of NBC then how big of a hit 30 Rock is, but I get your point.

That show is built around being on NBC though, I wonder how it would even work on another network.

**GeronimusClone** · 01-11-2010, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by MNCyGuy

Might say more about the state of NBC then how big of a hit 30 Rock is, but I get your point.

That show is built around being on NBC though, I wonder how it would even work on another network.

I can easily see the show moving to another station and having an entire year's worth of episodes on that premise. Also, I've seen one episode of 30 Rock. I hate Alec Baldwin, otherwise I'd watch it.