Late Night Economics: Shows Face Financial Realities

Late Night Economics: Shows Face Financial Realities

Want to buy a commercial to welcome Jay Leno back as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show"? It'll run you only about $35,000. If that sounds like a lot, a few years ago that ad time would have gone for $50,000.

For all the hype about the futures of Leno and Conan O'Brien, the era when a comedian could be crowned the undisputed "king of late night" is, like the price of a 30-second spot in one of their shows, on the ebb -- and with it, the economics underpinning late-night TV.

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