On Jan 13, 12:03 am, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > I have been at work and occupied with other priorities most of today - just > had a few minutes to read the big news earlier this afternoon, and have > tried to catch up on the posts here. > > Very nice move by Coco - as far as I can tell, if he walks away from NBC he > is walking away from tens of millions of dollars - not a lot of people would > do that, no matter how affulent they are. But it is the right move, for the > exact reasons that he gives in his statement. > > I am not certain though that the statement reflects his resignation from The > Tonight Show - I will be interested in reading later reports that might > clarify this. I don't think there is anything in this statement that is a > resignation - he just says he can not accept moving the Tonight Show to > 12:05. Here is how he ends > it:http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/12/conan-releases-statement-on-l... > > "...But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. > Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time > slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could > matter more. > There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the > record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea > what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so > that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company > that values our work." > > This seems to leave the door open for NBC to reconsider and keep the show at > 11:35. It also seems to at least give Conan a basis from which to argue that > NBC still owes him the tens of millions of dollars in his contract - > particularly if anyone else becomes the host of a program called "The > Tonight Show". This would depend on the exact language and interpretation of > the contract, which has been reported to give NBC the right to air The > Tonight Show as late as 12:05, but I would not be surprised if this is not > open to various interpretations.
I took the Conan statement that you quoted a bit differently. "... resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work" sounded to me that he was reaching out to any outlet other than NBC. > > I see some here want to defend Leno in all this. I can not agree. True, NBC > is the source of all the evil here, and they have not treated Leno > particularly well. But Leno has basically been a dick through the entire > story. The narrative that Leno took up the 10:00 show as a loyal NBC > employee to help them save the network is BS. He took the show because he > was not ready to leave television, and, I believe, always thought he might > be able to land back at late night. The interview he gave last fall makes it > clear that at least by that point he was signaling that he wanted back at > 11:35. To then agree to move to 11:35 even though it would be nothing less > than a betrayal and humiliation of Conan is the last straw. Leno had to know > (and be hoping) that Conan could not swallow that, and be prepared to swoop > in and take back The Tonight Show. I don't think there is a chance in hell > that Leno will step up and do the right thing and refuse to participate in > this coup d'etat > > As for the prediction that NBC will claim vindication if Conan eventually > takes a Fox show and Leno finishes 1st over both him and Dave, that may > happen, but NBC would be just as moronic and self-destructive in claiming > that victory over Conan as they have been in claiming it over Dave. The > issue is not whether Leno get higher ratings than 2 or 3 other competitors - > the issue for NBC is, are they making more money by repeatedly choosing Leno > over the other guys to host the Tonight Show? And the answer is clearly, no, > they are not. If they had given Dave the Tonight Show 20 years ago they > would have a higher percentage of the 11:35 audience than they did with Leno > last year - even if Leno had gone to CBS and been successful enough to stay > on the air. If they had stuck with Conan with the Tonight Show and just cut > Leno lose like they had promised they would, 5 years from now they would be > getting higher ratings than they are likely to get from Leno.* > *
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