First Exciting News Story of 2010
Finally, the first exciting news story of 2010 has appeared.
No, it’s not Apple’s iSlate (that’s still a rumor) or Google’s Nexus One (that’s just a phone). It’s not Avatar grossing over $1 billion dollars (that was pretty much expected). The exciting news is….
NBC considering pushing “Jay Leno Show” back to 11:35!
The big deal is not that Jay Leno’s moving back to his original Tonight Show time slot, or even that Conan O’Brien may defect to another network (well, that could be interesting). What’s exciting to me is that NBC has woken up to the error of its ways and that perhaps creativity will win over corporate incompetence.
It was clear from the beginning that NBC created The Jay Leno show at 10 pm to merely save money. It was the same format as The Tonight Show. No originality or creativity was put in. NBC executives pinched pennies and expected millions of viewers to tune in faithfully five nights a week for the same old formula. Obviously, they hadn’t heard the definition for insanity.
What results from this change will depend entirely on NBC’s focus on developing quality programming. NBC has been in a ratings freefall ever since Seinfeld ended and they’ve been desperately trying to climb out of the bottom. This Jay Leno / Tonight Show shake-up seems more like another desperate measure rather than a strategic move.
In mid-February, NBC has the Olympics to boost its ratings. It’s an excellent time to promote their few quality shows (30 Rock, The Office), their promising new shows (can’t think of any right now), and their new line-up that will replace the 10 pm weeknight slot. Wait. That’s only a little more than a month away. Does NBC have any new dramas in its pipeline to roll out in the 10 pm slot? Not likely. Which can only mean, a mess of reruns of Chuck, Heroes, and more Dateline and reality shows. Oh well, another missed opportunity for NBC to climb out of the network ratings cellar. There’s always next Fall.
