The Conan Debate

The big buzz in the TV world right now is the Leno/Conan debate that NBC has stirred up. A few years back, things were set in motion that put Conan O'Brien as the host of "The Tonight Show" in June 2009. However, it seemed that Jay Leno did not want to retire. So NBC, which has been having a slew of ratings problems, decided to give Jay his own show and put that on at 10p.m.


Here were a few of my issues with that decision. First of all, it was a slap in the face to Conan. NBC basically made the statement, we know you are the Tonight Show now, but we still like Jay and he is going to be on before you. Secondly, it removed 5 hours of scripted programming from the airwaves. I used to work on "Life" and it was a great show to watch. I can't entirely blame the Jay Leno situation on the decision to cancel "Life", but it certainly looks that way. This put people out of a job. There could have been anywhere between 5-10 other shows produced for this time slot.


Now, of course, NBC has made the decision to move Jay Leno back to the 11:35pm time slot. This is due to poor ratings for Leno at the 10pm and Conan at the 11:35pm slot. They have been getting pressure from the affiliates since their 11pm news ratings have dropped. They don't have a good lead-in with Leno. This is after 4 months of trying out this new schedule. 4 months!! Now I guess that is a lot of time since some shows have been canceled in two weeks. But you have Conan under contract. What are you going to do?


Conan responded with a statement saying that he does not want to be a part of a Tonight Show that starts at 12:05pm. I don't blame him. He has worked hard to get to this point in his career. And this is where I get really furious. Let's stop rewarding people that just create attention or bring in the big bucks. Conan (and Jay) have both worked hard in their careers. I'm not a fan of Leno, but I can't say that he hasn't worked.


They are not reality actors. They are not the octo-mom or the Hennes. They are two comedians that want to make people laugh and entertain an audience.


But NBC, YOU decided to move Conan to "The Tonight Show" with a start date of June 2009. He came and Leno left. I'm guessing you felt sorry for Leno since he was still bringing in the audience and creating a profit for you. And you didn't want to lose that profit. So you gave Jay his 10pm show.


Unfortunately someone is going to lose their job here. And it won't be by any fault of their own. There doesn't seem to be any egotistical fights here. It's a simple matter of business between Leno/Conan and NBC. NBC, you created contracts with this talent, and you now either have to fulfill the contracts or void them altogether. The questions is, do you want to come out of this situation with one or two eggs on your face?