And from Bill Carter at the Times, who's usually pretty on-target: NBC May Be Considering Reinstating Leno on 'Tonight Show'
By BILL CARTER NBC executives held discussions with both Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien Thursday about the future of the network's late-night lineup. And while executives said that no final decision has been made, they did not deny that the network was considering moves that could include returning Mr. Leno to his old job as host of "The Tonight Show." NBC executives said a decision would definitely not be announced Thursday but did not deny a report posted by TMZ that NBC was considering making the switch and replacing Mr. O'Brien at "Tonight" with Mr. Leno. TMZ reported that NBC would make the move soon to take advantage of the natural break in its schedule when it covers the Winter Olympics next month. The discussions at NBC are directly related to pressure that has been brought on the network by its affiliated stations, which have seen ratings for their 11 p.m. local newscasts plummet this television season because of much-weakened lead-in audiences from the network in the 10 p.m. hour. That hour has been filled by Mr. Leno's new prime-time show. NBC has said for months that Mr. Leno's ratings are not out of line with what they promised advertisers, but the network acknowledges that it underestimated the negative impact on the affiliated stations. Mr. O'Brien, meanwhile, has seen his own ratings suffer. He has trailed the CBS late-night star David Letterman by about two million viewers a night. Mr. Leno had easily been the winner in that time period previously. If Mr. Leno does return to his old slot, there is some question about what will happen with Mr. O'Brien. He had been recruited by other networks in the past but how his contract may be resolved and how his experience at "Tonight" may affect his future prospects are unknown. Earlier Thursday, NBC executives denied a rumor that appeared on the Web site FTVLive that the network had made a decision to cancel Mr. Leno's 10 p.m. program. At the same time, the network acknowledged that low ratings for the show had become a serious problem for its affiliated stations. In a statement, NBC said, "Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay's show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance." Regards, KGB ----- Kevin G. Barkes Email: kgbar...@yahoo.com 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.
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