NBC is said to be considering a significant schedule change for its late-night lineup that would push The Jay Leno Show back to Leno’s old spot of 11:35 p.m., according to The New York Times. The late-night revamp would put Leno on for 30 minutes, followed by Conan O’Brien starting at 12:05 a.m. and Jimmy Fallon at 1:05 a.m. (more details here). NBC declined to comment but released this statement: “We have the best comedy team in the business. We remain committed to keeping Conan O’Brien on NBC. He is a valued part of our late-night lineup, as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers in television.”
The stunning revelation comes amidst a flurry of Internet rumors over the last 24 hours that culminated with speculative reports about Leno’s show getting the heave-ho. As a result, NBC took the unusual step of responding to an internet report about the future of The Jay Leno Show earlier today by saying “Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay’s show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve performance.” Obviously, a decision on how to fix the network’s ailing late-night lineup may be imminent now. In the meantime, the NBC brass will face the nation’s TV critics at its annual press tour gathering Sunday in Pasadena, CA, so the future of Leno and O’Brien will surely be addressed.
Concerns about Leno’s fledgling talk show hit a fever pitch in November when Leno, of all people, told Broadcasting & Cable: “Would I have preferred to stay at 11:30? Yeah, sure.” His sentiment was no doubt colored by the show’s declining ratings. Though his talk show debuted at 18.4 million, it dropped to 4.3 million in just seven weeks (nowadays, Leno is averaging 5.32 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49). Meanwhile, ratings are down for the post-Leno local newscasts in several of the network’s top 10 markets, while Conan O’ Brien is routinely trounced by David Letterman a half hour later.
More on Jay Leno from EW:
Jay Leno jokes about cancellation rumors on Thursday show
Leno and NBC suck. It would be sad if they screwed over Conan like this. Leno should have just retired instead of doing this prime time show.
Conan sucks and should go back to the east coast where he belongs. maybe he voice over a new saturday morning cartoon….
Conan is among the funniest people on TV. He and Craig on CBS are the two best in late night. Leno sucks, NBC better not give him the 11:35 spot. Just fire him finally and get him and his unfunny show off TV.
Leno is a jerk. He has o realize he is undermining Conan with these statements. I think NBC did screw Leno, but that is no reason to hurt Conan. Conan isn’t doing as well because he seems to be hand-cuffed from taking the risks he took on Late Night.
Coo coo, coo coo!
Conan is awesome, and Jay Leno is a piece of SH*T if this happens. Not only does he suck at comedy and life in general, he’s not funny, and never has been. He’s screwed over every ‘friend’ he’s had, including Dave, who was supposed to be the Tonight host after Carson retired, and Carson didn’t want Jay to get it, but NBC did. Now he’s stealing back Conan’s show because of his crap comedy, and he’s being rewarded. If this happens, I’m done with watching any and all NBC shows for good.
I’ll watch Leno or Conan (in that order) over Letterman any day.
Kurt,
Were you trying to be a hypocrite? If so, you succeeded with your comment.
I hate this is happening. I am so happy to have Conan on at a time when I’m not going to sleep. I’ve watched him since he started and I am always entertained. NBC needs to get its act together and stop stringing us all around like this.
@ Jessica
Were you trying to be an obnoxious wench? If so, (actually- either way)you BEYOND succeeded with your comment.
Way to go sweetie.
This is all unfair for Conan. He has yet to establish himself as the host for The Tonight Show. People have watched Leno for years discarding talk shows after that time slot because of the late hours. You can’t judge a host for their own “comedy” because you’re making a comparison between hosts. Like I said before Conan deserves more time to establish himself as the host of the The Tonight Show. The future is uncertain, he may bring in a bigger audience from future generations. Not all of us have the liberty of staying up to watch all the talk shows.
Leno is not funny..to those who think he is< should consider him in the morning or day timeand keep conn where he is…shuffling the tonight show hosts is just ridiculous at best
Wow. I hope Conan goes to greener pastures. Why hasn’t NBC realized Leno’s ratings are a reflection of the fact he’s not funny any more. Being a nice guy doesn’t mean you deserve a comedy/talk show.
He was forced out of The Tonight Show when he was still #1, not to mention no other talk show host would be able to get five million viewers every week night @ 10.
Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world…omg they can’t actually believe that crap…Conan is brilliant, witty, he LOVES his job unlike lantern jaw who phones it in each night, omg Andy rules, Craig Ferguson is brilliant also, Jimmy Fallon is fantastic, His video skits are funny and honestly Jay needs to kick his ego to the curb cause he jumped the shark years ago when he hired Stuttering John as comedic foder….what loser ever would think John Melendez would add anything remotely creative or funny to the tonight show…take your money and leave Jay, u bore us!
conan is brilliant and witty? since when? this 10 pm show isn’t the funniest thing on tv by far but it’s leagues beyond whatever crap conan puts out. i’ve seen his show and i’m not exaggerating when i say that a history channel documentary on sawdust is not only more entertaining but funnier at least a thousand-fold.
and everyone who whines that conan is losing ratings because of jay, he was losing ratings before jay and who’s to blame then? the nightly news? give jay a new timeslot or take him off the air, it doesn’t matter to me, but i’d shove a car battery down my throat before i ever watch conan again.
I wish Conan would dump NBC and move to HBO or something. I would love to see him when he doesn’t have to be censored by a lame network.
My thoughts exactly..either stay in your show to begin with or retire. Rude to push back Conan and Jimmy Fallon. 30 minutes will probably turn back into an hour before too long. Can’t say I have seen an episode of Leno in several years anyway. Sad to hear that it is effecting local news channels though. Too bad.
Ahemmmmm… No matter who went in at that timeslot, it was not going to work…people don’t want to watch talk shows during primetime. Leno led the ratings in his old timeslot before giving it up to Conan who has not been able to pull in the numbers. Leno never should have been taken out of that timeslot. As far as very funny and nice, Leno holds both descriptions. I don’t care for Conan and I hate Letterman. Ugg, I hate what has happened to the lineup.
Boy, I bet CBS and Letterman are loving this thread. Wake up people, quit beating down the NBC hosts, when Letterman is the one that sucks.
No you suck
No, actually, Letterman does suck.
You suck.
Normally, I would not dignify a response to Gilmore,or Hannah but their comments were disgraceful. Say what you want about Dave Letterman at least in my book and pretty sure many others he is still # 1.He is a very funny Man&I will continue to watch him on CBS@11:34PM.
LOL Marguerite.
Letterman is crazy and getting crazier each year. And not in a good way. He doesn’t even let his guests talk any more. He’s too busy rambling. Kind of sad… I agree with previous posts though that Ferguson is fricken hilariuos. Just started watching a little and he is just a riot! But yeah…NBC needs to let Conan and Jimmy give late night a go. Jay needs to go away.
To those who like Conan and do NOT want to see him get screwed over to make room for that fossil, Leno:
Please send your complaints to NBC at http://www.nbc.com/contact/general
Your comments are important and should be heard, but EW is not the best forum for telling NBC how you feel. Please go to the source. Maybe if enough people complain, NBC will have to admit how ridiculous these changes would be.
Soooo in the end, NBC is screwing over all of their late night hosts. I have very strong opinions on who I like and don’t, but at the end of the day the issue is that NBC really effed up by messing with a profitable franchise. Leno and Conan together consistently brought the ratings, thus the advertising $$$. The deal was made in 2004 and NBC obviously couldn’t foresee in that time they’d become the #4 network. Still, they made their bed and they should be supportive of Conan AND Jimmy Fallon, who has done a pretty decent job. Bringing Leno back let the viewers know they’d messed up…if NBC can’t portray confidence then they can’t expect a loyal audience. So great job NBC…in the midst of bleeding money you’ve screwed with your late night lineup…they should ALL walk, wouldn’t that be something?
Leno sucks, Conan sucks. whatever man. It’s the genius at NBC who came up with this idea that should be fired
Leno was on at 10pm? I never heard of this. Am I in a time Warp? Conan and Fallon are awesome!
Leno is the best. With all his fantastic cars and all that he earned with his chin. thanks.
I hope NBC wouldn’t be stupid enough to yank Conan and replace him with Jay. That is the main reason why they are a fourth place network, and it will only get worse because Sunday Night football is over for the season.
Jay’s not the main reason that they’re in 4th; it’s been that way for several years.
I feel bad for Conan. I’ve been a big fan of his for years, and even though I promised I’d watch The Tonight Show, I haven’t seen it in months. I now find myself catching Jimmy Fallon in Conan’s old spot. Maybe Conan should move back to 12:30.
I’m in the same boat as you hanna. I watched Conan every night in the old time slot. I feel like the earlier time slot holds Conan back from doing what he would normally do.
NBC should cancel Jay’s show and call it a day.
If you feel Conan is being held back would it not benefit him to have the lead in from Jay and then to be on later?? I don’t really watch any of these shows very often as I am usually in bed but it seems semi-logical to me.
I don’t watch Leno, so I don’t necessarily care if he gets canceled or not (except for the fact that it would open up 5 hours of prime real estate for better shows). But they better not bench Conan and/or Jimmy Fallon to make room for him. Conan and Fallon have been kicking ass. Let Leno take over Larry King. Keep NBC late night the way it is now.
I agree!
Yes, give him Larry King, what pinhead exec at NBC actually thinks this is a good idea…Letterman was right when he used to call them weasels, wow, what a schmuck the person is who made this decision, leave coney alone! and Carson Daly’s new format is more creative and interesting than Jay has been in years!
Totally agree. Conan is a genius, and just as beloved as he ever was. And even though Conan may not be winning in the Nielson ratings, that doesn’t mean he isn’t popular. Far from it. Video clips of his show go viral all the time. The problem is that young-ish people – i.e. Conan’s target audience – don’t have Nielson boxes (certainly I don’t, and none of the young people I know have one). So it’s really not fair to judge Conan based on Nielson ratings, because that system is a total crock. Nobody I know watches Leno. Nobody.
Good point Laura!
That’s one thing I’ve always asked myself “how accurate are Nielson ratings in this age?” With PVRs and Hulu and DVD sets, are Nielson ratings obsolete now? My favorite talk show is Craig Ferguson but I hardly watch him on TV, instead I catch each of his shows at work on youtube instead.
They better not screw over Conan.
Leno has already cut the legs off of Conan, destroyed countless hours worth of primetime that could have been used for scripted programming and refuses to leave with dignity and class.
Jay Leno ruins everything… my grandmother won’t even watch his show… my GRANDMOTHER!!!!!!
I didn’t realize your grandmother was was the entire human population, and thus, her opinion is representative of the views of everyone out there.
Her grandmother’s probably way cooler and funnier than Leno will ever be.
rachel, I hear ya. That’s pretty bad.
Jessica, you totally missed the point of the original post. Unless you were trying to be funny…like Leno tries to be funny. And like Leno, you FAIL.
And Jack, Amen.
I do not like Conan. Never have or will. Jay should have left everything alone.
I agree with you M.W.Hill, Mr. Conan reminds me of a 7th grader trying too hard to be funny. Just doesn’t work, but Leno…..no there is a class act. He always will be.
Mr. Conan? Really?
agree…that’s why letterman always came off the same stupid way…..conan was an early writer and helped cast that show
Conan never tries to be funny. He just is. Leno is so lame, none of his jokes are funny. The only time I would watch any part of his show is when he did the headlines. And that wasnt even him being funny, the headlines were the funny part. He would almost ruin it with his delivery.
Co-co 4-eva!
No offense to the senior set, but the ONLY people I know who like Jay Leno are all over 50.
I’m guessing ‘M.W. Hill’ and ‘the senior gal’ are AARP card holders. They’re the ones driving this Leno trash heap all over the timeslots.
I can’t stand Jay Leno. Conan’s humor is relevant and smart.
I propose Conan leave NBC to their slobbery cackling Leno, and expand ABC’s new-found reputation for good comedy programming.
Conan followed by Kimmel = GOLD
Yes I hope they move Jay Leno back to 11:30 late night. He is a natural when it comes to talk shows.Move him back to his old time. Bye,
The Leno Show is freakin’ terrible. He sleepwalks through it. No wonder it’s a failure. If NBC screws over Conan, he should walk. ABC or FOX would jump on him.
I do love 30 Rock and the Office but I may be willing to give them up if NBC screws over Conan.
And normally, I think that internet boycotts don’t work but NBC’s ratings are so craptastic that it could have an actual impact.
Okay, I retract my boycott until after next week. Just saw the promo for James Franco.
Good to know. I’m sure we can now all breathe a sigh of relief.
You Leno supporters are delusional. He’s bland and dull. He has ruined NBC’s programming by refusing to go away, and now he’s trying to backstab Conan, just like he did to Letterman.
Leno is a classless shill.
Well said, Mondo!
Second! The only one who watches Leno is my 81 year old Dad.
Mondo – you are right on the money.
Right on–NBC and Jay Leno should be ashamed!
Agree, Leno had the most corny boriing show- Conan is a saviour and needs time to build his audience. Jay appeals to the low brow blue color audience….he is a crass tasteless ass that should move on.
No offense, but you’re a moron.
Why in the WORLD would you say stuff like “he’s trying to backstab Conan” when:
a) YOU have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, what’s being said by who, and the logistics behind this….everything is just speculation
b) It’s not like Leno is PERSONALLY making these scheduling decisions…if you’re going to be angry at someone, it should be NBC. Not Leno.
c) NBC is the one who wanted to keep Leno – it’s not like Leno himself was begging on his knees to keep him within the NBC family.
So please, at least try to think a bit the next time you post your moronic statements.
I have always gotten the impression that Leno was a class act. However, lately I’m starting to think otherwise. HE IS the reason this is happening. He agreed years ago to retire in 2009 and let Conan take the reigns. Then 2009 rolls around and he decides he doesn’t want to leave and NBC has to kill itself, it’s programming and it’s affiliates to keep him happy. I have to disagree with you, Mondo. While I do not believe that Jay is TRYING to be a jerk….he IS. He should just say “Hey….we gave it a shot at 10…it didn’t work….Godspeed, Conan!” and FINALLY just retired. He doesn’t need to money, and he could continue to tour and do stand up to his heart’s content. He needs to just walk away gracefully and let Conan have the show he rightfully inheirited.
Actually Kimberly, Leno didn’t agree to retire in 2009 … it was entirely NBC’s decision to hand over the Tonight Show reigns to Conan in 2009, so that Conan wouldn’t walk to ABC when his contract was up for renewal in 2004. Also, it was NBC’s decision to offer Jay Leno an hour long primetime show in order to keep him from walking off to ABC — it wasn’t Leno who was begging to stick around. If anyone is to blame for this mess, it is NBC. They made it for themselves, all by themselves.
Mondo I think your being a bit delusional as well. While it was the execs decision to try and move the line up blend demographics. Leno was supposed to go. They gave him about 5 years notice. The JLS was cooked up in the final hour in scope. He lobbied for that “pre”-late night debacle. The Today Shows early morning ratings took a huge hit proving the Leno’s audience was mostly of the silver haired persuasion (the most age-centric population segment) tuning into another silver hair and drifting to sleep leaving their TV’s on all night. Jay Leno is good at delivering a punchline from time to time but his interviewing skills are dreadful at best. He can manage to make even an interesting guest boring. Something that Conan soars at. He can make the lamest guest interesting or at best have some fun with them. The worst part, which I haven’t seen mentioned yet. Is that Conan used to get way better guests at his late-night show then he has with the Tonight Show. Because the go to Jay’s show. Why would they need to do both and Jay is a PR’s safe uninteresting unfunny dream.
F NBC
Let Conan off the Leash
Fallon + The Roots = Greatness
No, no, no. Leno agreed to hand over The Tonight Show in ’06 or ’07 I believe b/c I remember saying to myself that Leno had a few more years – boy does time travel fast. But it wasn’t until it became closer to Leno’s final shows that it seemed that Leno changed his mind. i.e. his talks with ABC. NBC didn’t want to lose him so they gave him that god-awful show he has now.
Leno seems like a nice guy and I forgave him after what he did to Letterman. But if this move happens he’s been a whiny a** for a long time
Sorry, but it was 2004, not 2006/07. Here is the article about it in 2004:
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/sep/28conan.htm
Conan is so much more talented and fresher and not afraid to try new things. Alot better then Jay Leno making fun of misprinted ads and airing people getting triva questions wrong.
Funny is subjective. What one man finds funny, another man may not. Besides the comedic styles of both Leno and Conan are as old as time, they’ve both been doing the same sort of schtick for the last 16-17 years. So saying one’s fresher than the other is ridiculous.
Mondo and Co Co are BOFFO!!
Keep on keeping on, friend!
TMZ is reporting rumors that Leno is moving back to the 11:30 time slot. When NBC responded, they neither confirmed nor denied this rumor, just that they will put Jay on hiatus during the winter olympics and still deciding on the fate afterwards.
Another rumor is putting Jay on at 11:30 for only 30 min, then Conan for an hour. Again though, these are rumors, take them as you feel like it
Here’s the link btw, though not sure if EW will delete it, I don’t know how they handle outside links:
http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/07/jay-leno-nbc-conan-obrien-tonight-show/
The New York Times is now reporting Jay for a 1/2 hour from 11:35-12:05. Then Conan for and hour from 12:05-1:05 and JFallon at 1:05. Personally I don;t care for any of them . Give me Dave and Craig Ferguson….come to think of it,just give me Craig Ferguson.
Amen! Craig is the only one who is fresh, heartfelt, and smart EVERY single show!!!!
Can’t stand Letterman, Conan, & never saw Fallon, but 50/50 for Lenno & love Ferguson now he’s funny should move him in Lennos spot & Lenno in Furgys spot but won’t work,different networks.
Well, either way this certainly gives CBS (and Letterman) something to smile about, IMO. If they move Conan to 12:05, it’s cutting into Ferguson’s show and that potential audience at the halfway point, which is gaining in the ratings. Conan will lose a lot of his audience at the 12:35 mark, myself included. Although, Conan might get a small bump at 12:05 from those who currently choose to watch The Colbert Report over the Tonight Show but now won’t have to decide (I’m guessing it’s probably some of the same audience demographics.) Either way, I feel bad to Conan.
I totally agree… Craig is the only late night show that is funny. The rest are boring and contrived! I love Craigs accent and everything about his show is funny and entertaining. The rest need to go AWAY!
What will Leno do with 30 minutes? Bad idea. It seems like any way you slice it, Conan gets shafted. I like Fallon but he should have some skin in the game. He’s the newbie – he should go.
in all honesty, the only good parts of jay’s show are the first 30 minutes. no matter who he has on, no matter what show it is even, the interviews just aren’t that entertaining.
why not move fallon to the 10 pm slot and move the schedule back to what it was before? seems like a win-win
F-jay. he isnt funny. his show needs to be canceled ASAP.
This was NBC’s problem. They didn’t want to let either one go and they were stuck with a situation where they should have just let one go. Now instead of having one solid winner and maybe competition from the one that left they are stuck with two fat ratings losers.
Totally.
I thought thats what they did. I thought they chose Conan. They should have just let Conan go if they were gonna be so glued to Leno. “Two fat ratings losers” RIght on, Conan was doing pretty good until The Jay Show started. I think people switch NBC once the Leno show starts and never click back. No wonder Conan suffers too. POOR CONAN. THis SUCKS! I hope it doesnt happen. Ive been a huge fan for years.
Actually Conan was already floundering against Letterman before the Jay Leno Show even hit the air (as far back as June!) So blaming it on Jay Leno is just ridiculous. Sorry to burst your bubble.
how could they do this to conan, nbc are jerks they wouldnt let their actors go on the ABC scrubs finale either,leno is barely funny and conan is great i feel so bad for coco.
What is there to feel sorry about regarding Conan? That he might have his show moved back an hour later? Oh brother! People get a freaking clue. If he was a dying homeless man on the street, you’d avert your eyes and step over him, but because he’s on tv, the slightest ego-wounding incident is a cause for national mourning? Check your priorities.
And really, as much as I love Conan, he’s not funny enough for The Tonight Show, Jay did a way better job hosting it. Late Night With Conan O’Brien was a better vehicle for him. Kick off Carson, he was only competent on MTV’s TRL (which is now canceled) and have Jimmy Fallon in his place.
You are spot on. And Mike, thank you also, Mr. Leno is a class act, Mr. Conan……not too much at all.
Thank you! Just this morning I stepped over a nearly frozen homeless person, scoffing about how I almost tripped. But tomorrow – tomorrow I will help him up. I will walk him into an employment center, sign him up and make his problems my personal responsibility. All because I read a comment on an entertainment forum. Thank you!
HA funny. @ seriously OF course there are more important problems than Conan being bumped. This is an entertainment site. WOW you really “zinged” everybody.
This isn’t national mourning. It is what it is, and it’s posted on Entertainment Weekly. If you want to lament on poverty and homelessness, there are other sites and forums for that discussion.
Please do not even think about taking Jay off the Air.. He does a great job in making us laugh.. Please NBC
Please speak for yourself. Leno does a good job of making YOU laugh.
I prefer Conan, Fallon and Kimmel.
Which one of us ISN’T speaking for himself? I don’t think any of the above comments come from group spokesmen. I once had a girlfriend split up with me because I said I liked Leno (back in 1992). I liked him then, and I like him now.
Agree, Leno is NOT funny he needs to go.
Maybe Leno makes YOU laugh, but NOT me. He sucks!!!
us?