Sad to say, but Coco is gone!

The other night Jay explained how NBC twisted his arm several years ago to retire and turn the Tonight Show over to Conan.  He wasn't ready to retire and even when he went off the year, he was winning the time slot ahead of Letterman on CBS and Nightline/Kimmel on ABC.  Since he was still under contract to NBC, Leno wasn't allowed to go somewhere else (Like Fox), and NBC offered to let him have the 10:00 hour for the current show.  NBC wasn't losing any money on the deal even with the dreadful ratings Leno got at 10:00 because his show was much less expensive than the hour dramas they aired in the past.  However, while NBC was making out, the affiliated stations weren't -- because most people who weren't watching Leno at 10:00 didn't switch back to the NBC station for news at 11:00 -- which is where the local stations make their most money.  NBC was afraid that the affiliates would revolt, so they decided to return Leno to the 11:35 spot, in effect screwing O'Brien.

Jay Leno was still delivering an audience (I believe greater than Conan's) up until he was replaced.  So NBC did what CBS did many years ago with the Beverly Hillbillies -- cancelled a #1 show when it was still on top.  Bad decision.

If there's any villain in this opera, it's the powers that be at NBC.  Neither Jay nor Conan should be blamed.

Quoting DoubleDownAgain:

Quote:
It all started with Leno.  He got crappy ratings which led to crappy ratings for local news which lead to crappy ratings for Conan.

Did NBC put a gun to Leno's head and make him take the Tonight Show back?  What would have the affiliates have done if they didn't replace Conan? Nothing... But if they would have kept Leno at 10 PM they would have lost some affiliates.  The cause behind this was Leno who reneged on his deal to retire.  If he didn't want to retire he shouldn't have signed the deal in 04 and promise the Tonight Show to Conan.  Sure Conan didn't have the best ratings but he deserved more than 7 months to prove himself especially with the fiasco known as the Leno Show which impacted his ratings.

And there is the point I was making...Conan wasn't enough of a draw on his own.  Anyway, Conan got a $45 million check and his freedom.  Had they given that to Leno, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

As for deserving more than seven months, he was lucky to get that.  Some shows are lucky to get seven weeks.

Quoting DoubleDownAgain:

Quote:
Love it! (That's why I posted it earlier in the thread!  )

Cool. And had you made it into a link, maybe I would've noticed it.

KM

Why blaming people if the two person involving this can make jokes about it. See and hear it for yourself.

Below, the full text of O'Brien's statement.

Quote:
People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over "The Tonight Show" in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/conan-obrien-quits-declares-tonight-show-time/story?id=9539812

There's one significant difference between O'Brien replacing Leno and Leno replacing Carson.

It was Carson's idea to retire from hosting the show, not NBC's for him to retire.  He, like Leno, was still at the top of late night when he retired.  If truth be told, I'm sure NBC would have been happier if Carson had kept on going many years longer than he did.

On the other hand, some NBC nitwits decided that it was time for Leno to go, despite the fact that he continued to draw a bigger audience than any of his competition.  I believe it was NBC who approached Leno to retire, not Leno asking to do so.  And as the time for his retirement approched (sound like Bret Favre to anyone?), Leno didn't want to do so.

So the die was cast, O'Brien took over the Tonight Show, and Leno went on at 10:00.  From the start this was proven to be a bad idea.  O'Brien didn't draw the audience that Leno did, despite how talented he is, and Leno was worse at 10:00 than the dramas NBC previously aired (at least ratings-wise).

So I blame neither Conan nor Jay -- had NBC not made the wrong decision years ago, they wouldn't have had this trouble.

Well this is great reading. Im getting a whole entire eduction into the politics of American talkshow hosts.

I will save you yanks a lot of bother and just get Frankie Boyle to host your late show.