Leno, your show was second to Letterman for two years until Hugh Grant.

[Writer]

And you gave Conan 7 months then call him a "failure?" You're a prick.

Jay, this is what saved your sorry ass:

[WI_DEM]

1. Well maybe so, and I dislike Leno and love Dave, but why would audiences

turn away from Letterman and towards Jay just because of one interview with Hugh Grant? I could see a one or two night change but for the span of years!? While Hugh Grant began the turnaround it was Jay's relentless "comedy" during the Simpson trial (dancing Ito's, etc) that cemented it.

[LynneSin]

2. what was so memorable about that interview?

And if I'm correct, Letterman had the better ratings for the key demographics of 18-35 bracket.

[WI_DEM]

3. Oh it was after Grant got picked up with a prostitute and apologized and Leno's question was "Why?"

It was the phony big story of the day.

[Writer]

6. It was "What were you thinking?"

And it was the phony story of the day. However, HH ratings for the programs did, indeed, shift after that week.

[Writer]

5. 18-34 is a young demographic, 18-49, which skews older, is the more sought-after...

demographic for advertisers.

[LynneSin]

9. I may not have the numbers right. The point is, Letterman tended to do better with that group

Leno's appeal was more towards an older crowd.

[Writer]

11. That's true, and that's what happened with Conan.

Conan's audience also skews younger, and I think (I no longer work with ratings so this is a guess) that he doesn't have the same broad appeal as Leno. Leno, on the other hand, appeals more to middle America, and hence has a more squishy, family-friendly appeal than Conan or Dave.

[Writer]

4. I did research on this as an undergraduate.

There were several subjective factors that contributed to the switchover, including the bits you mentioned, but that moment was the tipping point. In 1995, Leno took the reigns from Letterman.

There was also the New World deal, where many CBS stations switched affiliations for Fox programs. We didn't find any significance before and after for the switches in the markets we studied; however, Jay Leno works better at 11:30 because those who watch his program were more likely to be news viewers than Letterman's viewers.

[Bucky]

14. Are they more likely to be news viewers in general, or more likely 11/10pm local news viewers?

Did your research include broader media usage habits like newspaper readers or national news viewers?

[roguevalley]

21. I watched the news and then Johnny's monologue before turning it all

off for about 30 years. don't do it with Leno. Leno is a dork.

[FormerDittoHead]

7. Then Jerry Seinfeld chimed in on this, and shows what a DICK *HE* can be...

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jerry-seinfeld-defends-nbcs-jay-leno-concan-obrien/story?id=9530328

"What did the network do to him?" Seinfeld asked. "I don't think anyone's preventing people from watching Conan. Once they give you the cameras, it's on you. I can't blame NBC for having to move things around. I hope Conan stays, I think he's terrific. But there's no rules in show business, there's no refs."

Two things galls me about this.

1) Seinfeld's show did TERRIBLY the first year it was on, worse than Leno's first year. But the execs "believed" in him.

2) As a result of the shakeup, Seinfeld will be having a new show on at 10:00.

So, Jerry - I thought you were the weakest link in your show (Curb Your Enthusiasm proves the real talent was with Larry David), your stand up was dull, and now you're a dick as well.

on edit: PLEASE FORGIVE THIS IS *SLIGHTLY* OFF TOPIC

[Bucky]

12. I don't think your comments are off topic

People are picking which multimillionaire talker they like and getting worked up about it to distract themselves from not being able to afford their groceries. Now talking about something that mattered to peoples lives, that would be off topic.

[newtothegame]

8. When did Leno call Conan a failure EVER?

:shrug:

[Bucky]

10. You're going all the way back to Hugh Grant to say Leno's success was an accident?

That's pretty lame. Leno consistently outperformed Letterman for years; that's not an accident just because you personally prefer Letterman's humor. I don't really like Leno's interviewing style and don't find him funny, but the fact that he had higher ratings than Conan is not up for argument. NBC is the source of the dumb management, not Leno. Anyway, when Conan walks away from the mess with a 40 million dollar buy-out, I'm not gonna spend any time feeling like he got a raw deal.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Well it's not because he's talented.

[dflprincess]

13. It's NBC and Leno's fault that Conan has not been doing that well

It's been a ripple affect. People aren't watching Leno, so they're not watching the local news broadcasts (the affiliates have complained about that) and so they're not tuning into Conan.

[Bucky]

16. In other words, show viewership is a function of being too lazy to turn the TV off?

The key to Conan's performance at the later hour was that people up that late are looking for the edgier humor and a break from the banality that Leno and the local news specialize in. Conan was coming on at 11:30/12:30 when most viewers still hadn't gotten their fill of banality yet, but refused to adapt his humor to the more comfort food style of entertainment that the viewing public wants in that time slot.

The soul of your complaint seems to really be about how lame-assed tv watchers are.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. Yes, Leno poisoned the well.

NBC affiliates all across the country had their eleven o'clock news ratings tank.

You suppose that's just a coincidence?

[dflprincess]

19. That actually seems to be the case

a strong show in the 10 pm (9 Central) helps the local news. I have no idea why that is, but that's how it works. (It was easier to understand back when many people didn't have remotes).

Me - I pick up the remote and turn to The Daily Show and Colbert. Then, if I'm not too tired, I might check in to see what Letterman is up to.

[rcrush]

15. Well I guess to be fair we dont really know if Jay had anything to do with Conan getting kicked out

Although if a sequel to the Late Shift comes out we might find out Jay was hiding in closets listening in phone calls again. But if I were Leno I would feel like shit if my boss was going out of their way to keep me around and shaft my friend and co-worker for no damn reason. Especially if everyone would blame me for it anyway. If I were as rich as Leno I would consider walking away gracefully.

But Conan can do that to and it will probably work out better for him if he does.

[dmr]

20. I don't know anything about ratings, but this is what I ask:

What is it about Leno that NBC is willing to screw over another top TV personality?

Who will be next?

There will never be another Carson. Leno is ok, but can't compare to Letterman - just his deadpan looks & spontaneous one-liners cracks me up. That's one the differences between the two.

Letterman is far from shallow, and has the ability to go from silly to serious, and not lose the audience's interest. Some of the best serious/public interest interviews have been done by Letterman. Not many people can pull that off.