Host Jay Leno gestures during a panel for his upcoming television series "The Jay Leno Show" at the Television Critics Association Cable summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif. on August 5, 2009.MARIO ANZUONI
NBC's high-profile experiment to showcase Jay Leno in his own prime-time talk show has finally come to a merciful close, but Mr. Leno isn't going anywhere - and neither is Conan O'Brien.
The late-night talk scene took a peculiar shift, with news that The Jay Leno Show was being cancelled.
"I can confirm, starting February 12, The Jay Leno Show will no longer air at 10 p.m.," Jeff Gaspin, chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, said in launching his network's stint on the winter TV critics tour.
Buoyed by public curiosity, the Leno prime-time show debuted strongly in September, then faded in ratings. Recent numbers revealed that NBC's viewing audience had dropped more than 30 per cent compared with programs in the same timeslot a year ago. In Nielsen ratings, NBC currently ranks in fourth-place among U.S. networks.
And something had to be done with the Leno 10 p.m. debacle. The tension over NBC's plans for the show, and how they might impact Mr. Leno's Tonight Show successor, Mr. O'Brien, had been mounting for the past week, following rampant speculation on media-watch websites.
Andrew Ryan blogged live from the NBC announcement in Pasadena.
"While Leno was performing at acceptable levels for the network, it did not meet our affiliates' needs, and we realized we had to make a change," said Mr. Gaspin, who appeared before the press accompanied by NBC prime-time president Angela Bromstad.
"What we found anecdotally was that Jay wasn't people's first choice at 10 o'clock, or even their second choice."
What came next was the confirmation of a weekend scoop obtained by The Globe and Mail correspondent Marsha Lederman, who cornered Mr. Leno during a standup appearance at a Richmond, B.C. comedy club on Saturday night, and asked him if he was returning to his old 11:35 timeslot. "I think so," Mr. Leno said, with some hesitation.
And so it came to pass, though not exactly as anticipated.
Mr. Gaspin told the press that his network's plan was to move The Jay Leno Show to 11:35 p.m. in a new half-hour format, to be followed by The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, running 12:05 a.m. to 1:05 p.m., thereby moving Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to a 1:05 start time. "My goal right now is to keep Jay, Conan and Jimmy as part of our late-night lineup," he said.
The caveat: Mr. Gaspin was very careful to point out that all the details behind the late-night shuffle were yet to be worked out. "As much as I'd like to tell you it's a done deal, that's not true ... The talks are ongoing. I hope and expect, before the Olympics begin, we will have everything set. I can't imagine we won't."
The call to move Mr. Leno back to his previous late-night timeslot is regarded in TV circles as a renewed vote of NBC confidence for the 59-year-old comedian, who took over The Tonight Show reins from Johnny Carson in 1992.
Mr. Gaspin said Mr. Leno has been "incredibly gracious and professional" in brokering in their recent discussions. And what of the other two talk hosts? In much the same manner, Mr. Gaspin said Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Fallon were "professional and understanding" of the programming moves. "Beyond that," he said, "it was a private conversation."
When pressed, he admitted that the call to cancel Mr. Leno's 10 p.m. show was partly in response to recent pressure from NBC affiliates across the U.S., several of which were demanding Mr. Leno's reinstatement to The Tonight Show. "The affiliates became a lot more vocal in their displeasure," he said.
Mr. Gaspin said his network will use the Olympic broadcast period to determine how to fill the 10 p.m. hour for the remainder of this season.
Among other options, he discussed the possibility of bringing back the Law & Order spinoff Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which was transferred to the NBC-owned cable channel USA Network. He also confirmed that NBC's critically acclaimed football drama Friday Night Lights, which was booked to return this summer, will not return to the network on March 1. Otherwise, he chose his words very carefully. "Because it's a fluid situation I don't want to say what we're going to do right now," Mr. Gaspin said. "We have to work that all out."
NBC has a good deal of prime-time real estate to fill after the Olympics and into the summer. "We have dedicated our resources to fortifying and building up our development slate," enthused Ms. Bromstad, who otherwise said very little during the hour-long press session.
In the end, it was a slick exercise in spin control on a deteriorating situation. Mr. Gaspin would not agree to the suggestion that NBC made a mistake in dropping Mr. Leno into the prime time aren't. "I don't think it's wrong to take chances," he said, and as highly paid network executives do, he repeatedly cast forward to the next TV season, and hopefully better times. "By the fall," he said optimistically, "you may see us do some interesting stuff with the schedule."
Whatever the future holds for NBC, it won't be another 10 p.m. talk show.
Globe television critic Andrew Ryan blogged live from Pasadena on NBC's announcement