conan quits

[pixletwin]

Well not such a big feat when you remember that he did sell his soul to Almighty Satan.

 

[Dally]

This sucks. I watch Conan every night and now he has been screwed over by NBC and Jay Leno. Looks like I'll be watching Letterman until September.

 

[The Craw]

conan is the only place i get my news from. how am i supposed to keep up with current events now?

 

[Bannister]

conan is the only place i get my news from. how am i supposed to keep up with current events now?

 

[Buttmunch]

I still think the fairest solution would have been to have everything go back the the way it was. Leno at the Tonight show, Conan at Late Night, and Jimmy Fallon either back on SNL or just let him go. Fallo sucks. I've tried watching him a few times and he tries too hard to be funny and fails miserably.

I know Conan wanted to keep the tonight show, but surely going back to Late Night couldn't have been too bad considering the alternatives right?

 

[karamazov80]

I don't know. You don't give a guy the prime slot then stick him back to his previous, subordinate position like that. If Conan had failed completely on his own merits. . .maybe that would be justifiable (though I don't think his ego would have allowed it). But when they stick Leno on right before him as a lead-in, and thus stack the deck against him having viewers, to go back to the slot following the guy who never gave you a fair shot to begin with? I wouldn't do it if I were Conan.

 

[barbelith]

I don't know. You don't give a guy the prime slot then stick him back to his previous, subordinate position like that. If Conan had failed completely on his own merits. . .maybe that would be justifiable

But he did fail. Ratings plummeted. We can fairly deduce three things from this:

• Audiences liked Leno in the slot
• Audiences didn't like Conan in the slot
• Audiences didn't like Leno in an earlier slot

There's an art to scheduling, and there are several other factors in play, but at the end of the day the fact remains that a substantial part of the Tonight Show audience simply stopped watching under Conan, and Conan failed to find new viewers to replace them.

 

[karamazov80]

What you aren't taking into account was that Leno probably had a dramatic or reality TV lead-in of some kind. I'm not sure what it was, but it wasn't a talk show. That was what was unfair to Conan. You stick a guy in a talk show behind another guy in another talk show, and people aren't gonna watch because they already got their talk show fix. The audience base for Leno was split between watching his new show or catching the new version of his old show, and the folks who used to watch drama X and would keep watching for the tonight show were gone to another channel. So, Conan's ratings were low along with Leno's. If scheduling is an art form, then NBC execs are those guys who do velvet Elvis paintings or dogs playing pool.

 

[Buttmunch]

What you aren't taking into account was that Leno probably had a dramatic or reality TV lead-in of some kind. I'm not sure what it was, but it wasn't a talk show. That was what was unfair to Conan. You stick a guy in a talk show behind another guy in another talk show, and people aren't gonna watch because they already got their talk show fix. The audience base for Leno was split between watching his new show or catching the new version of his old show, and the folks who used to watch drama X and would keep watching for the tonight show were gone to another channel. So, Conan's ratings were low along with Leno's. If scheduling is an art form, then NBC execs are those guys who do velvet Elvis paintings or dogs playing pool.

Actually no, he had the Local News, just like Conan. And saying this years news sucked compaired to last isn't exactly something you can blame

And Leno and Conan were doing just fine at their Tonight/Lat Nite positions before. Changing their times just didn't seem to work. It goes back to the saying, if its not broke, don't fix it. It was working before!

 

[LChinoz]

But he did fail. Ratings plummeted. We can fairly deduce three things from this:

• Audiences liked Leno in the slot
• Audiences didn't like Conan in the slot
• Audiences didn't like Leno in an earlier slot

There's an art to scheduling, and there are several other factors in play, but at the end of the day the fact remains that a substantial part of the Tonight Show audience simply stopped watching under Conan, and Conan failed to find new viewers to replace them.

Your deductions don't work unless there is a suitable amount of time for each to gain that audience. Leno had abysmal ratings his first 2 years as host of "Tonight." Conan's ratings were similar, but was only given 7 months, the last 4 of which were right behind Leno's lagging show.

 

[barbelith]

What you aren't taking into account was that Leno probably had a dramatic or reality TV lead-in of some kind. I'm not sure what it was, but it wasn't a talk show. That was what was unfair to Conan.

Leno wasn't the lead-in to Conan. They both had half an hour of "local programming" as the preceding slot - usually local news. It's no use blaming Leno (who I dislike, incidentally).

 

[LChinoz]

Actually no, he had the Local News, just like Conan. And saying this years news sucked compaired to last isn't exactly something you can blame

And Leno and Conan were doing just fine at their Tonight/Lat Nite positions before. Changing their times just didn't seem to work. It goes back to the saying, if its not broke, don't fix it. It was working before!

The decision was made 5 years prior to the move in 2009. Once you change hosts, you should not go and try moving everyone back to where they were 5 years ago. And anyone in the TV business will tell you that a prime time lead-in is very important for these types of shows, not the news lead-in, which generally people could watch on any channel.

 

[barbelith]

Your deductions don't work unless there is a suitable amount of time for each to gain that audience. Leno had abysmal ratings his first 2 years as host of "Tonight." Conan's ratings were similar, but was only given 7 months, the last 4 of which were right behind Leno's lagging show.

Leno was the best shot at replacing Johnny Carson and it eventually paid off. Conan was always a cult figure with a different audience. They took the posts in very different environments - the former had to wrestle with whether audiences would accept a Tonight Show without a living legend. Conan had to gamble whether audiences would prefer him as a known quantity to Leno. I prefer Conan but 1) late night talk is an obsolete format and 2) it was foolish to attempt to lure in mainstream viewers with a cult personality.

Comparing ratings at 10pm and 11:35 is a mug's game.

 

[barbelith]

And anyone in the TV business will tell you that a prime time lead-in is very important for these types of shows, not the news lead-in, which generally people could watch on any channel.

There is no prime time lead-in for anything at 11.35pm.

 

[LChinoz]

What you aren't taking into account was that Leno probably had a dramatic or reality TV lead-in of some kind. I'm not sure what it was, but it wasn't a talk show. That was what was unfair to Conan. You stick a guy in a talk show behind another guy in another talk show, and people aren't gonna watch because they already got their talk show fix. The audience base for Leno was split between watching his new show or catching the new version of his old show, and the folks who used to watch drama X and would keep watching for the tonight show were gone to another channel. So, Conan's ratings were low along with Leno's. If scheduling is an art form, then NBC execs are those guys who do velvet Elvis paintings or dogs playing pool.

On top of that, how many people want to watch the same talk show type format from 10pm all the way to 2:30am? NBC execs had no idea what they were doing.

 

[barbelith]

On top of that, how many people want to watch the same talk show type format from 10pm all the way to 2:30am?

That's not the schedule. And even if it were, these shows have different audiences.

NBC execs had no idea what they were doing.

Nope. It was silly to launch Leno at 10pm and it was silly to put Conan in at 11.35pm. Neither half of the equation made sense.

 

[LChinoz]

There is no prime time lead-in for anything at 11.35pm.

Like I said, between the 10pm show and the 11:35pm Tonight show, there is a half hour of local news. The local news is not looked at as a lead-in because people generally can watch the news on any channel. People watching CSI on CBS will watch that affiliate's news, people watching Glee on Fox will watch that affiliates news. When people did not watch Leno's show, they did not watch the NBC affiliate's local news, therefore making a whole bunch of local affiliates mad. Bottom line: The prime time 10pm show IS considered the lead-in for the Tonight Show.

 

[barbelith]

The prime time 10pm show IS considered the lead-in for the Tonight Show.

Only by you.

 

[LChinoz]

That's not the schedule. And even if it were, these shows have different audiences.

NBC
10pm Jay Leno Show
11pm local news
11:35pm Tonight Show
12:35am Late Night
1:35am Last Call

ABC
10pm 20/20
11pm local news
11:35pm Nightline
12:05am Jimmy Kimmel

See the difference.

 

[LChinoz]

Only by you.

And the rest of the network affiliates and TV stations around the country...(I work at one)