Kim Masters: Is NBC preparing to announce *Jay Leno*'s departure from *The Tonight Show*?
The network says categorically no, but two high-level industry sources tell *The Hollywood Reporter * <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/>that NBC is moving toward a May announcement that the 2013-14 television season will be the last for Leno as host of the long-running late-night show. Sources expect the network to move *Jimmy Fallon* from his* Late Night*spot into the coveted 11:35 time slot with a soft launch during the summer of 2014 before a formal fall kickoff. A Leno rep says, "We do not speculate on rumor." Whether the network finally executes the *Tonight* transition plan remains to be seen. Anyone with even a passing sense of Leno’s personality knows that the hardworking comic would be reluctant to leave his perch, especially before his rival at CBS, *David Letterman*, announces his retirement. Leno and Letterman are both signed through 2014. Sources believe the network will bring in Fallon partly out of concern about the competition on ABC, which moved younger-skewing *Jimmy Kimmel* to the 11:35 time slot in January. “The more time Jimmy Kimmel is in that slot, the more the young audience goes that way, the harder it is for Jimmy [Fallon] to keep that audience,” says a source familiar with the network’s thinking. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sources-nbc-discussing-jay-leno-425669 -- __________________________________________________________ Steve Rhodes - San Francisco Photojournalist - Demotix Wire/Corbis http://SteveRhodes.Demotix.com http://www.corbisimages.com/photographer/steve-rhodes Demotix Wire description http://www.corbisimages.com/content/demotix-wire/ @tigerbeat twitter/Instagram http://twitter.com/tigerbeat http://instagram.com/tigerbeat -- -- 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
