HolyCoast: Leno at 10pm?
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Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Leno at 10pm?

I like this idea:
UPDATE: My source was correct, and NBC will be announcing shortly this major primetime move to strip Jay Leno at 10 PM in valuable and visible primetime. It certainly makes sense because NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker couldn't afford to let late night's No. 1 host go to a competitor. So this way Jay Leno would stay at the network even though Zucker threw him under the bus five years ago by giving The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien in 2009. It keeps ABC (and also-rans Fox and Sony) away from Leno. And it may very well secure NBC's 10 PM slot and Jay's legacy. Or it could all go into the crapper if Leno's 11:30 PM audience fails to follow him. Or if Jay doesn't attract more eyeballs than his most recent average of 4.8 million viewers tantamount to a mere pittance for primetime. Or if Leno's show cuts into Conan's viewers which cuts into new Late Night host Jimmy Fallon's audience because there's 3 similar programs in a row (and 3 1/2 if you count Carson Daly's abysmal half-hour). Suddenly, there's talk show format fatigue.
I bet Leno would pick up a whole new audience as well as retaining many of the nightowls who currently watch him. I'd certainly be more inclined to watch him at 10 since I'm rarely up at 11:30.

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