Hiya, Nowbies:) Does anyone (Rose?)know where, or if, we have pre-Googlegroup wnndl still online anywhere? I was feeling nostalgic.
Karen Sent from my iPad > On Jan 9, 2010, at 3:50 PM, Richard de Give <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Could Conan's ratings be any worse than those for Joan Rivers or Chevy > Chase??? And can Fox get the clearances from local stations?? > > Rich > > > --- On Sat, 1/9/10, Kevin G. Barkes <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Kevin G. Barkes <[email protected]> > Subject: [LATE NIGHT] Conan on the move? > To: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010, 8:35 AM > > WSJ: > > O'Brien May Jump to New Network > > > By SAM SCHECHNER And SHIRA OVIDE > > Comedian Conan O'Brien and his advisers were mulling career options Friday, > including jumping to a rival television network, people familiar with the > matter said, leaving the fate of NBC's late-night shake-up in limbo. > > A person familiar with Mr. O'Brien's camp said there had been "approaches" > by other networks since it emerged Thursday that NBC hopes to return former > "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno to his longtime 11:35 p.m. eastern perch at the > General Electric Co. network, displacing Mr. O'Brien. > > One suitor is News Corp.'s Fox network, which has had early discussions with > Mr. O'Brien's circle about hosting another late-night show, according to > other people. News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal. > > Mr. O'Brien, who currently hosts "The Tonight Show," is the big question > mark in NBC's plan, which is an about-face after the network installed Mr. > Leno in a nightly prime-time show in September. The move was greeted by a > hailstorm of criticism, and the show has had lackluster viewership. > > NBC's plan would push Mr. O'Brien's "Tonight" back by half an hour to 12:05 > Eastern time to make room for a shortened version of Mr. Leno's current > show, according to people familiar with the matter. > > If Mr. O'Brien doesn't agree, Mr. Leno would return to hosting "Tonight" for > its normal hour, one of these people said. Although the moves aren't > finalized, Mr. Leno has agreed in principle to both options, the person > said, adding: "One way or another, Jay will be on at 11:35." > > At least some in Mr. O'Brien's camp believe NBC's proposed switch is unfair > because Mr. O'Brien gave up the opportunity more than five years ago to move > to another network when NBC promised him the "Tonight Show" slot, according > to a person familiar with their thinking. NBC is likely to want a decision > before it meets with local TV affiliates on Jan. 21. But Mr. O'Brien is in > no rush to make a decision, the person said. > > An NBC spokeswoman didn't have any comment. The network said yesterday that > remains "committed to keeping Conan O'Brien on NBC." > > Mr. O'Brien faces potential pitfalls regardless of what he chooses to do. > Staying at NBC would entail following Mr. Leno and losing his coveted time > slot less than a year after his June debut. Moving away could put him in > competition with Mr. Leno just as some television executives have expressed > concern about the size of Mr. O'Brien's audience. > > From Sept. 21 to Jan. 3, Mr. O'Brien's "Tonight" averaged about half as many > viewers as Mr. Leno garnered a year earlier, according to Nielsen Co. Mr. > O'Brien has seen far less steep declines among younger viewers, and he has > remained even with his CBS competitor David Letterman among viewers in the > the key 18-to-49-year-old category in the fourth quarter. > > People close to Mr. O'Brien say his ratings declines result from Mr. Leno's > poor performance earlier in the evening, according to a person familiar with > their thinking. > > Fox executives are potentially interested in Mr. O'Brien and are crunching > the numbers to see whether adding Mr. O'Brien would make sense, according to > people familiar with the matter. The conversations haven't yet turned > serious, one of the people said, in part because Mr. O'Brien is still under > contract to NBC. > > "While Conan is a great talent, he's still under contract with NBC, so we'll > have to see how it all plays out," a Fox spokesperson said. > > Among Fox's concerns are the shrinking profits of late night as competition > grows, and Mr. O'Brien's soft ratings, the people said. The network could > also have trouble persuading local Fox TV stations to give up shows they > have already purchased to fill their late-night hours. > > Another possible home for Mr. O'Brien could be Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, which > was interested in the possibility of picking up Mr. Leno in late 2008. > > But ABC has had relative ratings success in the past year with its > late-night newsmagazine "Nightline," apparently damping its interest. "With > all due respect to Conan, we like the late-night hand that we are current > playing," an ABC spokesman said. > > > Regards, > > KGB > > ----- > Kevin G. Barkes > Email: [email protected] > KGB Report: > http://www.kgbreport.com > Commentwear by KGB: > http://www.commentwear.com > National Temperature Index: > http://nationaltemperatureindex.com > DCL Dialogue on line: > http://www.dcldialogue.com > Random Quotations Generator: > http://www.goodquotations.com > Over 13,000 searchable quotations. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "World News Now Discussion List" 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/wnndl?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "World News Now Discussion List" 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/wnndl?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World News Now Discussion List" group. 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