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Talk Show News Blog For the best and latest late night news, I recommend visiting Talk Show News. You'll find much more — and more promptly — than I could ever offer. Conan To Appear on Jay Conan O'Brien is set to appear on Jay Leno's Tonight Show on Friday, May 29, Jay's last night as the venerable show's host. During a 70 minute conference call with media, Leno touched on many topics and hinted at going out with something special highly unusual. Leno also reiterated that he and Conan are friends, that there is no animosity between the two, and that the transition is going smoothly. Others scheduled to appear during Jay's last week as Tonight Show host include Mel Gibson and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jay Hospitalized, Is Doing Fine Due to Jay Leno's hospitalization, NBC canceled yesterday's and today's Tonight Show. As of this time, no information on what caused his illness has been released, although there was some speculation that it might have been something that he had eaten. NBC spokesperson Tracy St. Pierre said that Leno was doing fine and that he was in fact writing monologue jokes and testing them on hospital staff. Leno's public relation representative, Dick Guttman, said Leno left his NBC office around noon for the hospital but planned on coming back to The Tonight Show next week (his guest list for next week is already full). Jay Leno's time on The Tonight Show is short: his last Tonight Show is Friday, May 29. Conan O'Brien takes over Monday, June 1. Comedy Stimulus Plan Tour Continues Jay Leno's first Comedy Stimulus Plan show was such a success that he is doing it again. His first show, in Detroit, was a two-day event that drew approximately 36,000 attendees. Pepsi treated them to food and drinks. Jay treated them to comedy and motivation. The next stop on Leno's free comedy tour is May 10 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, OH. Tickets will be available at noon Monday, April 27 at the Roberts Centre Conference Center. Pepsi is sponsoring the show and the Roberts Centre is donating its venue. This free event is for people struggling due to the current recession. For more information, visit Gail & Rice, Inc., the show's producer. Two tickets per person and a photo ID is required. Boston Loves Jay In a testament to the strength of NBC's network and increasing confidence in Jay Leno's upcoming 10 pm program, NBC Boston-affliate WHDH went back on its threat to air a local news broadcast. No other affiliates had joined the Boston station in boycotting Leno's September show. However, there have been concerns that the assumed lower average viewership of Leno's show as a lead-in will depress the ratings for stations' 11 pm news broadcast thus causing lower advertising revenue. Large affiliates have been pressing for, and NBC may grant them, more advertising spots during Leno's show to run local advertising. Boston Refuses Jay? NBC Boston-affliate WHDH announced that rather than airing hometown hero Jay Leno's upcoming 10 pm show, it will instead broadcast a local newscast. WHDH believes by doing so will mean greater viewership, ratings, and revenue. NBC responded strongly, threatening to strip WHDH — and any other NBC affliates — who are considering to do the same. 10 pm Jay A One-Guest Guy? NBC is unofficially and slowly releasing details about Jay Leno's forthcoming 10 pm show, with a concept of a one-guest format, focusing on the day's issues. By most accounts, this will be a topical show, lending relevance, timeliness, and weight to the show, and leading nicely to 11 pm newscasts that follow. Additionally, this format allows for greater differentiation between Leno's new 10 pm show and Conan's Tonight Show. Fans need not worry too much, however, as Leno, a comedian in every way, will most likely continue with his famous monologue and skits. More details to follow. Presidential Ratings for President Obama's Appearance President Obama's appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno drew presidential ratings for the late night show. According to Nielsen, President Obama's March 19 appearance brought in 14.6 million viewers, the fourth highest number for The Tonight Show since Leno took over from Johnny Carson in 1992. The show's ratings almost tripled Leno's 4.9 million season-average and easily trumped other competitors, mainly Late Night with David Letterman, which ran a repeat. The 14.6 million viewers also represents the program's best ratings since May 14, 1998, when Seinfeld marked its series finale. Summary: President Obama's Appearance on The Tonight Show President Obama's appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is certain to give the already #1 late night talk show a huge boost. Whereas prime time viewership has steadily declined this season, average viewership in late night has been bucking the trend: Late Show with David Letterman ratings are up 11% from 2007-2008 (at 3.8 million viewers), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is up 5.4% (at 4.9 million viewers), and the total number of adults 18-34 who watch live TV between 11:30 pm to 1 am is up 1.7% (at 14.6 million viewers). In deference to President Obama's stature and importance, Jay Leno devoted 3 segments, or 25 minutes, to discuss the economy, the controversial bonuses awarded to executives at AIG, financial advice, politics, bowling, basketball, and his campaign promise of getting his daughters' a dog if he were elected President. The show ended with country-western star Garth Brooks performing his 1991 song Rodeo. President Barack Obama Scheduled for Thursday, March 19 In what may be an unprecedented first, a sitting president of the United States is scheduled to appear as a guest on a late night talk show. Barack Obama, in California for several townhall-style meetings, plans to talk with Leno about the economy. Leno Adds Additional Comedy Stimulus Show Admist great fanfare, with Domino's handing out free pizza, Jay Leno's free comedy show "sold out" (the show is free) its 18,000 seats and tickets for the show appeared on auction site ebay. Because of such astonishing demand, Jay Leno announced on Monday's Tonight Show that he's added an additional night, also generously sponsored by Pepsi. Details remain the same for the second night, although, given his popularity, this second night will sell out quickly as well. Leno Announces Comedy Stimulus Plan Continuing his charitable ways, Tonight Show host Jay Leno announced on his March 9 show that he would perform an all-expenses paid standup routine at Detroit's Palace at Auburn Hills. The show, intended to bring some entertainment to the out of work in Detroit, is largely underwritten by Pepsi, who, in addition to providing free admission to Jay's standup routine, is also providing free parking. During the Tonight Show monologue, Leno expressed his well-wishes for the community, indicated that Detroit is one of his favorite places (Leno is an avid car and motorcycle collector, amassing well over 150 vehicles), and, in these tough economic times, when people are saving money and forgoing entertainment expenses, he wanted to support the community in one of the best ways he knew how. Tickets will be available at the Palace of Auburn Hills box office Monday, March 16, at 10 am. There is a four-ticket maximum per person and guests must provide a photo ID. Fallon Wins Premiere Week Jimmy Fallon's premiere week (3/2/09-3/6/09) went as planned. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon averaged 2.4 million viewers his first week, bettering Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which averaged 1.9 miilion viewers. Opening night went even better for Fallon: 2.9 million viewers to Ferguson's 1.9 million. In fact, his debut gave the show its best numbers in three years and was 35% above the show's current 1.7 household rating average. "We're right where we hoped we would be," said Rick Ludwin, NBC's executive vice president in charge of late-night series. Due to the huge interest and build-up leading into premiere week, the results are not that surprising. Of more interest will be long term ratings, especially in May, when Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show will be Fallon's lead-in. Additionally, until Fallon's take-over of Late Night, Craig Ferguson had been chipping away at Late Night's lead and still proves to be a formidable presence. Jay's 10 pm Show Signifies New Era of Television More than ever, it appears that the television landscape has changed. Gone are the high-production-value, top-dollar, Emmy-winning-dramas that won acclaim not only at NBC, but at all the networks. Lower overall ratings and a shift in the economics of the television entertainment business (due, in part, to the advent of cable programs, time-shifting via DVRs, the Internet) all factored in to the creation of Leno's new show, tentatively named, "The Jay Leno Show." NBC Universal figures that a Leno-led 10 pm time slot will reap sizeable cost savings from producing dramas. Why is that? Figure that an hourlong drama can cost upward of $5 million to produce (equaling $10 million/week) whereas Leno's show is expected to cost $2 million a week. Moreover, scripted dramas (if picked up for an entire season) usually only go for about 18 to 24 episodes — not even half a year. On the other hand, "The Jay Leno Show" is expected to air 46 times a year, meaning fresh, topical programming that is difficult to compete and time-shift against. With specific regard to NBC, its current slate of 10 pm programs is mostly underperforming, with one drama (My Own Worst Enemy) near cancellation and another (ER) in its last season. Leno's program may stabilize, if not invigor, NBC's lineup — and even if it doesn't, NBC's expectations aren't too high: Leno's top-ranked "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" draws 4.8 million viewers at 11:35 pm, whereas CBS's CSI: Miami, averages 15 million viewers. Jay Stays With NBC In a deal uncharacteristic of today's divisive media market but wholly indicative of Jay Leno's history of company and personal loyalty, Leno and NBC have worked out a deal that moves Leno's brand of talk/variety to a nightly 10 pm time slot. The move, made during a period in which other networks can't openly negotiate with Leno, ensures that Leno stays in the NBC fold, doesn't compete against O'Brien, and allows NBC to develop original nightly programming that is cheaper than scripted dramas that currently air at 10 pm. No details about Leno's new show — its format, its participants, its theme — have been released, but one would predict that Leno wouldn't move too far away from the tried and true. The move to an earlier time slot will almost ensure an immediate ratings jump, possibly of nearly 50%, as there is simply a larger universe of viewers at that time. NBC's current programming at 10 pm, includes My Own Worst Enemy, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order, ER, and Dateline. These shows will either be moved to the 9 pm time slot or won't be returning for the 2009-2010 season. What a Conan-Hosted Tonight Show Could Mean As the date comes closer for Conan to take over at the helm of NBC's Tonight Show, more analysis of what it means comes forward. In Brian Steinberg's interesting article in today's Advertising Age, he points out that the 11:30 Tonight Show is positioned for the populous, meant not to challenge its viewers but to help unwind the day with a non-controversial-middle-brow sensibility. This, in part, could help explain why, ratings-wise, Leno almost always did better than Letterman, but was trumped by Letterman when it came to critical acclaim. Now, of course, the landscape is changing with O'Brien's induction into the Tonight Show throne come June 2009. O'Brien pulls in younger audiences with his brand of humor (playing to to that angle, O'Brien is going off the air late February and may be traveling cross-country to promote his big move in a series of online videos) and is known to have more of an edge than Leno. Of course, there's a fear that this may alienate older viewers, but NBC doesn't seem to worry about losing a larger audience in return for a demographically more favorable one (think younger viewers who media buyers are willing to pay more to reach). When all this is said and done, O'Brien's Tonight Show will be different than Leno's Tonight Show. But how different? No one really knows for sure. Tonight Show is a venerable franchise that started late night "fringe" programming and NBC would be remorse to change it too much. But each host makes the show his own, with the thought of making the Tonight Show continually relevant. Moreover, there is growing concern that a myriad of cable programs (listed below) are quickly catching on and target the same demographic group that as O'Brien. Amidst all this is the unknown regarding Jay Leno. Will he return to late night? What about daytime (a la Ellen Degeneres)? Where would we find him if he does return? Cable, syndication, ABC? When will he return? As soon as he can? After a short hiatus? In what capacity? As a pure late night play? As Larry King's replacement? Late night is anything but uninteresting.... Quick stats (through 10/19/08, Nielsen-reported millions of live and same-day viewers):
2008 YTD Notable Quotables Now UTD It's taken me awhile, but I've finally gotten around to updating 2008's Notable Quotables. To access them, simply go to NQs Jokes, select the category you're interested in (Celebrity, Observations, Politics, Sex, or Topical), and choose 2008. I already have on my to-do list updates to Notable Quotables from previous years. Yes, so at least, Notable Quotables are now UTD (up to date). Letterman Dismayed by NBC Leno Decision In a recent interview in Rolling Stone magazine, David Letterman expressed dismay as to why NBC would replace Leno as soon as next year. Citing the performance (Leno has led Letterman in the ratings for more than a decade of the 15 years they've competed head-to-head) and commitment that Leno has given to NBC, Letterman could only reason that, "they [NBC] thought it was a less messy way to handle what happened to me at NBC. I don't know." Letterman would even love to have Leno as a guest the first night he is out of the job. Read more about Letterman's take on NBC's early dismissal of Leno and what Letterman sees for his own future in September's issue of Rolling Stone magazine. He's Back! After a two week hiatus, THE TONIGHT SHOW with JAY LENO comes back with new episodes starting August 25. Jay's scheduled guests for Monday include presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain, 41 year-old 2008 Olympics 3 time silver medallist swimmer Dara Torres, and music from Juliana Hatfield. Letterman 3rd in 3 weeks For the 3rd time in 3 weeks, David Letterman placed third in the late night ratings race. THE TONIGHT SHOW with JAY LENO continues on top, with an average weekly viewership of almost 4.5 million. Nightline took in 3 million and Letterman held 2.9 million. Figures are from Nielsen Media Research. Hereeeeee's Ed McMahon? News just in that Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's former announcer and sidekick, has taped 4 comical commercial spots for Jimmy Kimmel Live! The first spot airs this Monday. I've got a Blog! I've started an NQs blog at Blogger. But mainly, this is for you to share your thoughts on late night: Jay, Conan, Dave, Jimmy, their jokes, their band...whatever you like. It's an open blog — just don't publish any material that is hateful or violent (see Blogger's content policy for more info). So, please I welcome your comments at: http://www.notablequotables-theblog.blogspot.com/ Leno's Last Day: May 29, 2009 Now we know. Officially. Friday. May 29, 2009. Jay Leno's last day as host of THE TONIGHT SHOW. Starting the following Monday, June 1, Conan takes over as the Show's 5th host in its illustrious 54-year history. Leno, who with his everyman humor won the ratings but never the respect of the critics, is the talk of the [entertainment] town. Talent agents want to represent him. Studio execs want to find a place for him. Audiences will miss him. NBC, the network that let him go, may very well regret that it lost him. Jay is a tireless workaholic. He never thought of himself as the smartest kid on the block, so he made himself the hardest working kid instead. While others slept, he worked; and not just metaphorically. He's won the late night ratings war 13 straight But announce his retirement, he did. Whether he was pressured into it or fully supported it, on the air in September 27, 2004, he said that he would be leaving the Tonight Show in 2009. A nice guy and company man, he wanted to make sure that the succession of power went over more smoothly and much more warmly than when hosting duties transferred from Johnny Carson to Leno in 1992. Now, however, with five years to chew on that decision and those statements, five years since NBC showed Jay a future that didn't include him, others are waiting to capitalize on NBC's mistakes by calling for Jay to join them. November 2009 is the soonest Jay can entertain offers. The soonest Jay can leave NBC? January 2010. Between May 29, 2009 and January 2010, NBC can try to entice Jay to stay: what about a regular primetime 10 p.m. show? What about a program on NBC-owned cable outlets USA, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, the Weather Channel, and whatever else NBC has? Or renege on Conan O'Brien getting hosting duties, and in so doing, pay $40 million in penalties. If not NBC, there are plenty of other opportunities. ABC may be willing to kill Nightline — it almost did so in its failed attempt to land Letterman in the early 90s — and move Jimmy Kimmel Live! back half an hour, leaving room for a new 11.30 late night show starring Jay. Alternatively, Leno could move to Fox at 11 p.m. (although that's been the graveyard of Late Night). Or, CNN might want Leno to replace Larry King in 2010. And in a wild what-if, CBS could replace Letterman with Jay in 2010. All we have now is speculation. And an unrelenting countdown to the end of Jay's era of The Tonight Show. No Leno in 2009? In a recent USA Today article, Leno informs reporter Marco R. della Cava, that, "I am definitely done next year — with NBC," and that he would consider moving to another network. Separately, the NY Times' Bill Carter wrote that after a May 12, 2008 news conference formally introducing Jimmy Fallon as the new host of Late Night, NBC co-chairman of Entertainment, Ben Silverman, admitted that Jay Leno could leave NBC's late night in 2009 (Leno's contract expires January 2010). It seems unfathomable to consider that after what will be 22 years and continued and consistent stellar ratings hosting The Tonight Show, that Jay Leno will no longer be its host. By 2009, Leno would have spent 17 years at the helm and 5 years as Carson's permanent guest host. Does it make sense to move Leno, whose TONIGHT SHOW with JAY LENO will have remained atop the late night ratings for almost its entire run? In the eyes of NBC, they felt they needed to promote Conan into the Tonight Show seat before he left for another network. And, because Leno's always been such a company man, they probably thought they could get away with squeezing Leno out. But now, Leno's got pursuers. According to Matea Gold of the LA Times, ABC President of Entertainment, Stephen McPherson, would be happy to have Leno team up with Kimmel: "I think there's absolutely room for both. I think they would be an interesting pairing. I still can't believe that NBC is going to actually let him go...Somebody like Leno doesn’t come along every year. That’s a huge possibility. Shuffling the night is certainly a possibility. Late night is a place where there’s real upside and there’s certainly revenue to be gained.” So, where will Leno go? Will NBC hold him until his contract expires in January 2010? How will Conan do as host of The Tonight Show? Will Jay and Conan, who complemented one another, now compete with one another? What about Fallon? How long will it take for him to settle in as host of the Late Show, or will have fall victim like so many others before him? And how will all this (potential) bloodletting shake out for David Letterman, whom CBS swooned away from NBC? Stay tuned for updates. Who knows how 2009 will play out.
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