Conan O'Brien announces microfracture surgery to stop NBC from moving his time slot

Do you think Conan would do well in Primetime? Putting Leno, or any of those guys, in Primetime was a terrible idea. Of course he wasn't going to thrive there. That's when people have shows on they want to watch. He still did better than Conan in Conan's spot. Why can't Conan fans see this? Jay Leno may not be funny to you, but he still did better business for NBC.

 

People aren't disputing the ratings. They're upset with the boneheaded management at NBC and the backhanded actions of that snake Jay Leno.

 

I keep going back and forth on whether or not that's all this is.

One thing's for sure, a lot more people are paying attention to NBC late night these days.

 

The poster I'm respond to was disputing the idea that Jay Leno is a bigger draw than Conan. I don't think I ever said NBC management was smart or wasn't screwing Conan.

 

that was when the houston affiliate had conan preempted for G.L.O.W. or something silly.

i remember a bit where he was at intercontinental and conan was asking people if they knew who he was and there was a tv literally right behind him w/ his show on and people were still saying 'no'.

 

Kimmel doing Headlines:

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2-dAlugJQE4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2-dAlugJQE4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

BTW, reasons to hate Leno: he stole Headlines from Letterman (small town news). He paid another comedian for a true story that happened to said comedian so that he could say it happened to him in his own autobiography (just like Peterman in Seinfeld).

http://cdn.wwtdd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/leno-is-a-b****.png

 

I think thats most comedians problem with him, he steals material.
Stern rips on him about that a lot.

he's hack

 

Jimmy is the best.

 

I'm starting to think you are a Leno fan.

I believe it took almost two years for Leno to overtake Letterman in the ratings when they first started going head to head, if I'm wrong you will correct me. Why can't NBC give Conan two years to grow his audience. I think a lot of people may be unfamiliar with Conan since his previous show came on so late. I think over time his ratings would grow and he would overtake Letterman just as Leno did.

I also think Letterman's ratings got a boost when the Letterman sex scandal made big news. We already know that Conan is pulling in the younger viewers that the advertisers love. I think if NBC would give Conan longer to prove himself, he could dominate the ratings for the next 15 years.

Leno got more than seven months at the Tonight Show to overtake Letterman, and so should Conan.

 

I don't watch any of them. I am not a Leno fan or a Conan fan. I guess I'm a Kimmel fan even though I rarely watch him.

I never said what they are doing to Conan is right or that Conan didn't deserve more time, or that Jay Leno was funnier, or that Jay Leno did it faster, etc. I said Jay Leno is better business RIGHT NOW for NBC than Conan is. Right or wrong, if they are forced to pick between Leno and Conan they are going to pick Leno because he makes them more money. Could Conan go past Leno someday? Maybe, I don't know.

 

i just said this in the other thread - the sex scandal and the palin spat were both ratings boosts that cut into conan's share - especially tough when its a new show and he's trying to establish an audience. and the cloud of leno hanging over him an hour earlier made it even tougher.

 

The issue is that they have to move Leno out of primetime, as it's been a disaster for lead-ins to local news. Leno is more popular than Conan and Letterman, but he's not more popular than what you normally have on primetime, so it doesn't work there and local affiliates were getting killed.

So then NBC's choices are simple:

1. Go with the guy they know is #1
2. Go with the guy who might someday be #1

Why wait two years to try to get back to what you can have today?

 

I don't think Leno is going to get his old audience back. If he gets 75% of them back I'll be surprised. By now, people have either adjusted to Conan or moved on to Letterman and Kimmel and found they actually prefer watching a late night show with a talented host. Others may have just found better use for their time.

NBC failed.

 

i dont know if you can really say that though - as already mentioned, conan has only had 7 months and during that time letterman had a couple things come up which helped his ratings and cut into conans. temporary boosts that the 4th quarter ratings showed were already leveling off.

but the biggest thing is that having leno 'dilutes the market' as someone already said. leno never had to come on after another talk show - he was first up after the news. imagine if johnny carson had a 9:00 show? who would have stuck around for leno?

they all have different styles, but honestly all talk shows are the same in a general sense - they talk about the same current events in the opening, do bits and skits and interview the same rounds of people. having leno on first definitely cuts into conan's show, which is supposed to be the anchor of nbc's late night lineup. they are doing a poor job of supporting him by forcing him to continue to be 2nd fiddle to leno. w/out leno there you would absolutely have more people sticking around for the tonight show.

give conan a fair shot and then we can compare ratings.

well they didnt pick leno - the picked conan. they invested years and several millions of dollars into conan hosting the tonight show and they dont even give him 7 months?

 

I think the reason NBC went from Leno to Conan in the first place was because of a long term plan for the Tonight Show. Throwing in the towel after only seven months seems very short sighted. Why give Conan so little time to prove himself when Leno had much longer. If NBC had pulled the plug on Leno after his first seven months when he was trailing in the ratings at the Tonight Show, it probably would have been a mistake.

 

True.. Conan is just hilarious!! Yeah, maybe he's a little goofy... but that's the cool thing about him. He say and does things to make people laugh! Which is the only reason why I think America is not embracing him the way they did Jay Leno. Leno was a funny guy but at the same time I think people perceive him to be more genuine... not always trying to make a situation funny. Whereas Conan is just a fool!! I personally prefer Conan over Jay. NBC, give the man 2 years at least!!

 

i saw conan last night for the first time since he aired on the tonight show...

i really prefer conan over leno but for me i am usually watching my shows on the dvr at that time and never was that into 'talk shows' most of the time i would turn it off once the guests came out.


anyways last night's conan was great i even saw the interview with ricky gervais which was hillarious too.


the bit when Kenneth came out with the tour was hillarious

 

Why make plans to hand over The Tonight Show five years in advance? NBC dug their own grave here. They tried to have their cake and eat it too.

I guess in 2004 they thought by 2009 that Leno would be old, stale, and ready to move on to retirement. At the same time, they didn't want to let go of the Late Night asset they had in Conan (nor did they want him cutting into Jay's ratings), so they made a decision way too far in advance. Could you imagine any other show making that kind of decision so far in advance? Most shows don't even know if they'll still be on the air in five years.

NBC f'ed up by making a premature decision and now by not giving it enough time (and by thinking people would really watch 3 talk shows at night), and I hope they have to suffer consequences for it.

 

couldn't conan's ratings be partly blamed on leno's poor ratings which are leading to poor ratings for the local newscasts?

 

absolutley - it's almost like jay set up conan to fail, though i don't think that's what happened.