Granted, I'm a big Ferguson booster, but it's hard to miss the lack of discussion of his show, for good or bad. Granted, the mention of Ferguson having an 11:35 guarantee when Dave leaves is sort-of news, as much for it conflicting with statements from SCG suggesting a lack of interest in moving up. All of the concerns expressed when both Dave and Conan shifted from 12:30 to 11:30 seem applicable to Ferguson, perhaps even more so. I can't see his 'can you believe we're doing this crap' attitude surviving in a marquee timeslot (to the extent that still matters).
But no reference to SCG's average audience age, no mention of what's done with (or in spite of) the traditional format in that show, and like Colbert and Stewart, he doesn't have a band, either. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that his show is the cheapest of the major networks' programs, and perhaps cheaper than some of the cable offerings. No mention of the Paris shows, or a mention that Ferguson is on Twitter (as are his robot, and both O'Brien and Richter). I would also push back that the Comedy Central shows are different enough from their traditional cousins (both in content and time length) that some comparisons aren't terribly effective. For all this talk, there still isn't any discussion of one of the shows going away. With the exception of Lopez, either the host or the show in each of the other cases has at least 6 years in, so there's a little bit of history. But if margins are getting as tight as the data suggests, Carter has not made the case for contraction that could be picked up from the picture he's trying to paint. David ________________________________ From: Diner <[email protected]> Subject: [TV orNotTV] NYT: Bill Carter Sunday feature on the decline of late night talk show ratings Much to discuss... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/arts/television/late-night-tv-shows-face-a-difficult-future.html -Tim -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
