Leno's 10PM Slot In Prime Time: NBC Move Keeps Leno From ABC

NEW YORK — Jay Leno treated his move to prime time at NBC like all headlines _ as monologue fodder.

"A lot of people were shocked," the host of "The Tonight Show" joked Tuesday night. "They didn't know NBC still had a prime time."

The network announced Tuesday that Leno will get a show five nights a week at 10 Eastern, after he leaves the "Tonight" show next May. The network had announced nearly five years ago that Conan O'Brien would move to "Tonight" and succeed Leno.

Leno, 50, made light of his possible jump to another network, playfully telling stagehands: "Guys, leave those boxes. We're not going anywhere."

He also said reports about a possible move "were nothing but rumors started by a disgruntled employee: me."

Leno joked that his longtime rival _ CBS' David Letterman _ would try to one-up him with a scheduling change by having a show at 9:59 p.m. (Earlier this year, Letterman said he wants to continue hosting his "Late Show" past 2010.)

Letterman's only allusion to Leno's deal in his monologue Tuesday came at the very beginning: "Welcome to the 'Late Show,'" he said. "Still at 11:35."

Craig Ferguson on CBS also had a little fun with it. "Jay's getting a little older now," Ferguson said. "So 10 p.m. is kinda 'late night' for Jay."

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Leno's deal also has the potential to be a big cost savings for NBC. A talk show is considerably cheaper to produce than the dramas that usually air at 10 p.m. Eastern.

Leno could now deliver his nightly monologue and sketches to more viewers. Generally about 50 percent more people are watching TV at 10 p.m. than at 11:35 p.m.

Dramas used to be a mainstay of network schedules, and NBC's own history at the time slot includes "ER," "Hill Street Blues," "Law & Order" and "L.A. Law."

Yet dramas have been fading in recent years. One reason is digital video recorders; more people are watching shows they taped earlier than the live 10 p.m. shows.

Ten years ago, "ER" was the top-rated show in television, with an average of 25.4 million viewers. This season, its last, "ER" is averaging 9.9 million viewers and is ranked No. 33 in prime time.

Besides "ER," NBC this season airs "Law & Order" and its "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" spinoff in the 10 p.m. time slot _ both shows that could easily move to an earlier hour. "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Lipstick Jungle," shows in the 10 p.m. hour on Monday and Friday, have already been canceled.

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NBC is owned by General Electric Co.

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On the Net:

http://www.nbc.com

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AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report.

Comments

[wendoxia]

uh.. 50? i believe jay is 57.

[Plus15]

This move by NBC/GE will cost over 250,000 people their jobs. Thanks Jay. The root of the problem is the creative and programming incompetence of the business execs who make those decisions and have no creative or imaginative ability. It goes to the reason that most new TV sucks. Check how many hours a week over the last few years the geniuses have programmed multi versions of CSI and Law & Order. Quality programming which had been the networks goal for many years gave way to just filling the time, now as cheaply as they can and screw the audience. Talented creators are shunted aside for twenty year old unproven and untalented seeker who are vieing for the celebrity life. This applies to the execs and the so called talent.

[yhgtup]

Conan O'Brien?? This guy isn't funny!! Why is NBC trying to fix something that isn't broken? Leno works for me!! He's the funniest of all the late night comedians. I will definitely follow him to 10pm, starting next Fall.

[MediaMensch]

I remember on of the old time comics lamenting that on the Tonight show the audience "claps" at Jay Leno's jokes rather than laughs. If you watch the show, there is little laughter, just clapping.

[smed]

I think this is a brilliant move by NBC. There is literally nothing to watch on at 10pm anyway.... with 2 kids my wife and I often want to just veg out and watch some TV together around 10. The kids are down, we've gotten caught up on cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and other projects. We just want to chill out, but there is nothing worth watching. Except maybe the simpsons....

I wish Letterman would do the same. I much prefer him, but hate staying up so late.

[barbwiregrrl]

I miss Johnny Carson each time I am reminded of the unfunny mean spiritied Leno.

I can't stand him and refuse to watch his show. I sure do hope they don't fump L and O. It is the only thing other than 30Rock that I watch on NBC...I even stopped watching the Today show it is gross all the cummy nonsense...I want the news...not fashion tips or make believe weddings..­..intervie­ws...news folks...NBC stands for Nobody Believes this Crap

[KateInHawaii]

Who said Conan is funny? Wrong!
Who said Ferguson is funny? Amen!
Letterman is too mean and crotchety.
Let's give Ferguson a try at Not-So-Late-Nite.

[JimR]

I like all 3 of them. But I don't expect much from Jimmy Fallon.

[Yarrr]

I don't find Ferguson funny at all. I honestly think it's the accent that hides his lack of funny.

[MountPanic]

No good can come of this.

Either it's a massive fail for NBC on a scale they may not be able to recover from...

OR

It's a success, in which case it's a failure for television and the American brain.

The thing is, they don't need to WIN their time slot. It will be a cheap enough program that it only has to compete, and the other channels will follow suit by pumping even more low-budget garbage onto the air, continuing the trend of brain-dead lowest-com­mon-denomi­nator programming like reality/game shows and "Now be afraid of THIS!" "news" magazines.

Sharing stories are how we create understanding between human beings. We NEED quality drama and comedy.

[MitchellJGel]

The end of primtime TV has begun and it will over soon enough. Wtih show after show getting the ax, ratings of shows like ER, which was once the most watched show in television, continuously trending downward, and Tivo becomming a household item, how long will it be before the idea of sitting down in front of a TV for an hour is obsolete. I am not suggesting shows are irrelevant. Maybe it is my perspective as a active college student that suggests Tivo and Online distribution has become bigger than TV. Perhaps ratings are down, not because of content, but because of means of distribution. Tivo has certainly helped depreciate advertising prices. Without strong ad revenue networks are quick to pull tens of millions of dollars in program developement and production. It certainly seems like the execs over at NBC agree, they just gave up one of their most coveted time slots for programming to the same show that used to run in the late night. What I propose is that soon enough networks will start producing shows exclusively for the internet. That is to eliminate trying to earn revenue for shows on two platforms, TV and internet, and simply increase ad revenue by means of charging more online for programs that do have followings. While this may take some actual work on the part of network execs to determine which shows are worthy, it seems to me that this is the direction we are heading.

[benpaul12]

Can we get a late night show with a host thats funny please?

[plooger]

Leno: "They didn't know NBC still had a prime time."

And now that you're moving to the 10pm slot, Jay, NBC is apparently abandoning any "prime time" content for that hour in favor of late-night schtick.

[Lex10]

Gee is there some kind of large chinned unfunny English talk show host this is based on?

[trish74]

I'm sticking to Stewart/Colbert for political comedy. I'm sure Jay would offer up some tepid analysis of the political stories of the day. However, if Dave offered to do the same show i would definitely watch.

[catgirl666]

Jay Leno is too far to the right, I hate how he gushes all over John McCain & Dennis Miller every time he has them on . It is kind of sickening. I wonder if he takes his flag pin off when he showers. I doubt it. I wish he would go away!

[wagthedog1001]

Is Dennis Miller still alive?

[JimR]

He is apolitical and gets along with everybody. Stop with the hate!

[fayemac]

So true catgirl, it is sickening. Havent watched the tonight show since Johnny, I sould say I watched a few and almost all were bashing Dems. But the worst part was that hes just not funny. They should put him out to pasture and keep him there. I dont even watch Obrian but I feel sorry for him that Jay cant think about anybody but himself and has to upstage his own heir. What a creep.

[czesco]

What about Craig Ferguson? He is by far the funniest of all the late night shows (not including the Daily Show & the Colbert Report). It's too bad that he is on so late but he is hilarious. The biggest issue with him might be that he is very witty and clever and that means most people won't get it.