Ironic Conan is happy for Jay and NBC
Hey, remember when NBC moved Jay Leno to 10 o’clock, hampering Conan O’Brien’s move to “The Tonight Show” helm? And then Leno and NBC squeezed Conan out after only seven months on the job? Which led to a $45M payout for Conan and his staff, a lionization of O’Brien by the Internet community, and a big national tour during which O’Brien agreed to start a new late-night show on TBS this fall? Yeah, good times. Regardless of whether or not you like Conan, it’s impossible to deny that he’s come out of this well, succeeding as both victim and hero.
So, how about NBC and Leno? How are they doing?
For the first week since Jay Leno’s Tonight Show return, he was tied by David Letterman’s Late Show, as both shows averaged a 0.9 adults 18-49 rating for the week of June 7-11. Coming off a week of repeats for both shows, Leno fell a tenth of a point and Letterman gained two tenths.
That put Leno’s Tonight Show two tenths of a ratings point below Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show ratings trend, comparing the ratings for each show’s fifteenth sequential week.
It was 0.6 ratings points below the same calendar week of Conan’s Tonight Show ratings last summer. Interestingly, Letterman’s Late Show had the same rating as it did for the week a year ago. [TV by the Numbers via WWTDD]
In plain English, that means that no matter how you measure it, Jay Leno is performing worse as the host of “The Tonight Show” than Conan O’Brien did. And Leno doesn’t even have the disadvantage of having Leno as a lead-in. Although I wouldn’t put that idea past NBC.
Jeez, Leno had a $150 million payout and Conan had a $40 million payout. It was the only move to make.
I like Conan, but the guy got $40 million for 7 months work. Luckiest son-of-a-b*tch alive if you asked me.
“Luckiest sonofabitch alive” title will always go to that retard married to Christina Hendricks.
I wish conan was more of a dick. He’s too good of a person to rub this in NBC’s face. If this was me I would be in front of NBC’s main office giving them the goat. But that’s my solution to every conflict.
I was waiting for this to be posted. Leno’s failures…..oh, how I enjoy them.
*Snoopy dance on top of desk*
Is there any definitive proof at this point that NBC is NOT run by 1,000 monkeys at 1,000 typewriters?
I like Conan, but the guy got $40 million for 7 months work. Luckiest son-of-a-b*tch alive if you asked me.
Yeah, all that luck he had in creating a show that succeeded for years at 12:30, and then the luck that his team wisely inserted a buyout into his Tonight Show contract, then the luck of being deemed a failure (albeit a sympathetic one) at his dream job, then the luck of getting kicked to the curb in favor of a backstabbing pigfucker.
Yes, he got $40 million for 7 months of work. But it was like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow only to see Leno & Zucker literally taking a shit on it. Yeah it’s still $40 mill, but I’m sure he’d rather have gotten it under better circumstances.
The stats are misleading – both shows averaged a 0.9 adults 18-49 rating – I think it’s well known that no one under the age of 50 would watch Jay Leno on TV, but NBC keeps him on because of the older audience. What are the numbers regardless of age?
I also think it’s a tad misleading because of different times of year that this 15th week ratings is being measured at. I haven’t researched it, but I’d guess that late night ratings would be down across the board after the Fall-Spring shows air their finales and shows like Rookie Blue and The Gates start premiering.
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“NBC keeps him on because of the older audience. What are the numbers regardless of age?”
It’s true that NBC kept Leno (ignoring the 100+ million out clause in his contract) because his general ratings were high; however, it’s been established since this whole nonsense first went down that focusing on that demographic is poor planning on NBC’s part.
As been said all over back in January, while Leno might seem like a more profitable figure based on his overall ratings *at the moment*, Conan was more valuable in the long term. The 18-49 year old male demographic is the golden goose of TV demos. A show can have a lower overall rating, but a higher 18-49 rating and be considered more profitable because that is the demo that advertisers focus on the strongest. The 50+ crowd is a dwindling market; whereas the 18-49 is young, expandable, and full of that disposable income advertisers love so much. It is highly coveted and it is what Conan had in spades.
“The 50+ crowd is a dwindling market; whereas the 18-49 is young, expandable, and full of that disposable income advertisers love so much.”
Are you KIDDING? The 50+ age bracket is the fastest growing demographic in the country! Ever heard of the Baby Boom?! And it’s well known that the 50+ market has much more disposable income than the younger age bracket.
And besides, I’m 50 and still consider myself “young.” ;)
Danger Guerrero said it well. Well said.
Conan is a good guy but all the positive thinking in the world won’t take the sting out of losing the Tonight Show. And how many of us watched Leno’s Tonight Show just because we were waiting for Conan to start? How much of his ratings was due to Conan fans tuning in because it was convenient and we had an hour to kill? Leno benefited from being the lead-in for Conan. Conan’s Tonight Show suffered because Leno’s 10pm show stunk. Stunk really bad.
If NBC was stupid enough to have a contract with Leno that would cost them that much when that show failed, then they were idiots first off, but they should still have done the right thing and admitted they screwed up and paid the money. Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t easy, but that doesn’t make it right to screw over someone else because they’re an easier (cheaper) target. And it doesn’t let Leno off the hook either. Leno’s show failed because of him. He had the network’s support, he was calling the shots. He failed. If he was a decent human being, he’d have accepted that, taken his money and gone home.
But the biggest point that people miss in all this is that it’s not totally about Leno or even Conan. It’s also about the people who have been deprived of the opportunity to watch Conan all these months. I felt just as sorry for myself as I did for Conan when this happened. :) I looked forward to watching Conan, night after night, year after year and they took that away. Thankfully, not forever and I’ll watch him no matter what time, day or network he’s on. NBC screwed over Conan’s fans, too. And the fact that they had to pay out a pile of money didn’t make that any better.
I will never watch Leno again even if, as my husband joked the other day, he were to have God, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe as his guests one night. I haven’t switched to any of his competition, just waiting for Conan to be back on the air.
And I think it’s only fair that NBC and Leno suffer for their lapses in judgment. Let those ratings continue to fall. Destroying someone’s dream shouldn’t be rewarded and it certainly isn’t justified by saying it cost less than doing the right thing. Business may be business, but piss off the viewers and ratings hit the dirt and that’s not good business. In the end the price may be a lot higher than the money they had to pay to Conan and his staff.
I used to watch Jay. Then, I found out he’s a creepy backstabber. Now I wouldn’t watch him ever. Kevin Eubanks was a vital cog. Lots of people watched for Kevin. Kevin left, probably cause he didn’t want to work for someone with Leno’s ethics. W/o Kevin, the ratings will just keep a fallin’.
The phrase “by any measure” is obviously incorrect. It’s only by one measure/demographic that Leno is doing better. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m part of that demographic and a proud member of Team Coco, but Team Coco is all about honesty, integrity, masturbating bears, and honesty.)
“Are you KIDDING? The 50+ age bracket is the fastest growing demographic in the country! Ever heard of the Baby Boom?! And it’s well known that the 50+ market has much more disposable income than the younger age bracket.”
They do not have more disposable income than the younger demo, even if they did it wouldn’t matter.
Studies have shown that Baby Boomers are the worst financially of any generation because they don’t save.
Aside from that, younger demos are more desirable because they haven’t developed strong brand loyalty yet.
Thank you cdashd. 50+ may be a growing part of the population as a whole, but that isn’t the issue at had. It’s all about how they relate to the market that makes them attractive to advertisers — aka who is spending the most and who they can keep around to spend that money the longest.
May the Bird of Paradise relieve itself all over each and every one of Jay Leno’s classic cars.