In a move to head off rebellious local affiliate stations, NBC issued an ultimatum Friday.
NBC Universal announced that Boston's NBC affiliate WHDH-TV must show Jay Leno during the 10 p.m. (9 p.m. central time) time slot or lose their affiliation with the NBC network.
Fears about Leno going from late-night to prime time have been decreasing with local affiliates since the initial announcement about the move was made. Much of the concern that remains is over whether or not Leno can hold viewers through the entire hour. In response to the worries, the NBC affiliates board is currently working on a study to determine what the effects of the move will be on viewers and ratings. It is unclear whether the network will take into consideration the results of the study. This is not the first disagreement that the board has had with NBC. Previously, it has battled with the network because of concerns by local affiliates that NBC has been unable to provide effective lead-ins to their 11 p.m. news programs. Despite the concerns, according to NBC no other stations have expressed any intent of not airing Leno.
The disagreement between WHDH and NBC shows the discontent that can exist between networks and local affiliates. Ultimately, both sides have valid arguments to make. First of all, WHDH is concerned that Leno in prime time will fail to lead viewers into their nightly news program, which would cut profits for the station. This could possibly lead to the station being forced to make cuts, or worse case scenario, go out of business. When looking at it this way, it seems local affiliates should be able to reject the program and go with a news cast in the time slot.
However, NBC Universal will be on a very slippery slope if it allows this to occur. The network should be able to determine what programming is played during prime time. This should include the decision to move Leno to the new time slot. Regardless of whether or not NBC has the right, the network was lucky that this battle occurred in a market where they were able to issue an ultimatum with little fear of losing an entire market of viewers. NBC officials cited WNEU-TV, the local affiliate of Telemundo, as a possibility for running NBC programming if it was necessary to remove WHDH's affilation.
It seems unlikely that WHDH will actually follow through with not running Leno and lose their affiliation. Regardless of what does happen, all local affiliates and NBC Universal will be holding their breath when Leno premieres in prime time with the local stations waiting to see if the show pushes viewers into the late night news and the network to see if its cost-saving move will pay off.
I feel that as soon as Leno's shows starts and the people see whether or not he is going to work on air things might change. I don't watch Leno or any of the other late night talk shows, so I don't know how many people do, or how much of his show people watched before, or how many people are going to watch him 9. But I know that I probably won't, I just don't care. There are other shows on at that time slot that have devoted fans so that could be a problem for Leno. I don't know what he's going to talk about, but if he's going to talk about issues of the day, then I think that people aren't going to want to watch, he's a comedian and not a news source, I'd rather wait to see the news, and I don't want to watch him talk about the economy when I've heard about it all day. But I don't feel like ratings for the news after him are going to drop that much. These news stations probably have devote audiences that won't stray away. But if Leno fails and ratings drop I am sure that NBC might change their mind about the stations deciding to air him or not.
Like Lindsay I also do not watch Leno. I would rather see the news at an earlier hour. However this is a prime example of what the big corporate networks says goes. No questions asked. I wonder what will happen to the news affiliate. Will it go down compared to other local news stations in the area? Were there any facts about how many of the NBC affiliates would be affected? Or is it safe to assume that most would have to change their news slot time. Another thing to consider is what will Leno discuss for an hour and for 52 weeks of the year? Also I question his following like Lindsay said. I don't feel like anyone in our age group follows him very closely so after awhile this may have been a poor choice for NBC.
It's all about that viewership. I think that maybe having Leno on after news would keep people on the news up to the last point to catch the very beginning of Leno, but then again I don't watch, so I wouldn't know for sure. It will be interesting to see whose side wins. Like Whitney, I would like to know some of the ramifications of this "to switch or not to switch" situation. It sounds like moving one time slot could put a whole domino of events into effect.
Jay Leno is done. And it's about time. The man ain't funny. Letterman is the King.
Obviously NBC is doing the Jay Leno 5-times-a-week at 10/9c thing to cut down on costs. But I think it has more to do with NBC not wanting the unfunny late-night host to hop to another network; they should have just let him go. Even Leno couldn't make FOX competitive in late-night, and he won't be competitive at ABC because three talk shows at the 11:30/10:30c slot is overkill. Letterman is already established, and Conan is going to pump new blood into The Tonight Show. Leno on ABC would just be awkward (and even more not funny); he'd become an afterthought.
The addition of Leno's show will cause America to develop late night talk show fatigue - perfect right before bedtime. All affiliates should be worried.
Leno could be a blessing. His humor is pretty hit and miss, but if he can manage to mix up the format of his show to fit into the different expectations of prime-time then he could really help the affiliates. Moving Leno is a test of faith for the affiliates though. The network is gambling that Leno can make things happen in prime-time and the affiliates are the ones that stand to lose.