On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 5:36 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 4:12 AM, Steve Rhodes <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Kim Masters: >> >> 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. >> > > Unless Leno can sign himself to an NBC contract in 2014 his reluctance to > leave is irrelevant. In 2009 Zucker panicked over the idea of Leno going to > ABC to compete against the Tonight Show. That is now off the table. > This is exactly the point. Last time Leno had the benefit of an eager suitor at ABC and the perception that he was ratings gold. The experience with the prime-time show, the disappointing ratings in the return to 11:35, and the emergence of Kimmel as competent force at 11:35 at ABC has changed everything (not to mention Conan over at TBS making the late night landscape all the more overcrowded). This now has nothing to do with what Leno wants, and everything to do with the judgement NBC makes about who will make them more money. Given that the answer to that question is a function of when Leno makes minus what he earns NBC on an aging audience (this is why Leno took that big paycut, though I don't think it was enough) vs what Fallon would make minus what he would earn NBC on a younger demo, and I think Leno should be starting to leak word that he really wants to get out on the road more regularly, and the Tonight Show has been cramping his style for a while now. I am not a big Fallon fan (though he sucks much, much less than he did his first year), and I do not disagree with many of the points Kevin made in an earlier post on this thread. But assuming that NBC has decided that Fallon is the guy to replace Leno eventually, it makes a hell of a lot of sense to me to get him in that slot sooner rather than later, before Kimmel can lock down viewing patterns for a generation of that demo. To be honest, as a big Dave-fan I should note my self-interest here: a landscape in which Kimmel and Fallon are on at ABC and NBC would seem to work to Dave's advantage. Where else are the over-50s going to go? -- -- 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.
