Delaying "The Tonight Show" in the Early Days of TV

[Chuck]

As I recall, WBAP (now KXAS) in the DFW area, was notorious for cutting in to Carson about 10:35, or whenever it was convenient for them. That was often in the middle of a skit and after the monologue. They didn’t even have enough class to wait for a natural break in the program. They’d just cut in mid-sentence. For Carson fans, it was a real bummer. I guess they made more money by having a 35 minute newscast. Those local spots pay better than the network.

 

[cd637299]

As I recall, WBAP (now KXAS) in the DFW area, was notorious for cutting in to Carson about 10:35, or whenever it was convenient for them. That was often in the middle of a skit and after the monologue. They didn’t even have enough class to wait for a natural break in the program. They’d just cut in mid-sentence. For Carson fans, it was a real bummer. I guess they made more money by having a 35 minute newscast. Those local spots pay better than the network.

Well I'm not sure if DFW was the first to do that, but it sure was a trend....all late night shows now start at the :35 mark....apparently the network brass(es) got the hint!

cd

 

[nomadcowatbk]

A station with the #1 news often beats Leno or Letterman with sitcoms reruns, works for KMBC. Even Nightline delayed by an hour gets good numbers

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

But when the Iranian hostage crisis broke, an awful lot of
viewers tuned to ABC to get the latest on the situation,
and there were a number of markets where Ted Koppel was
beating Carson, enough for ABC to turn "America Held Hostage"
into "Nightline" in the spring of 1980.

And IIRC wasn't Carson contemplating retirement in 1980? Which led to the "Tonight Show" being reduced from 90 minutes to an hour, and only 3 nights a week (with reruns and guest hosts such as Joan Rivers--and later Leno--on Monday and Tuesday), IIRC.

 

[bpatrick]

IIRC, Johnny agreed to do "The Tonight Show" four nights a week (Monday
would have a guest host) in exchange for cutting the show from 90 minutes
to an hour.

By 1980 a number of ABC and CBS affiliates in the Central and Mountain
time zones had added an extra five minutes to their 10 PM newscasts,
and by decade's end the trend was spreading into the Eastern and Pacific
time zones. NBC's affiliates must have demanded the extra five minutes
as well; I think Leno has always started (except for that primetime disaster
two years ago) at 11:35/10:35.

CBS, though, does make a thing about Craig Ferguson actually starting at
12:37 AM (ET/PT); one of my CBS affiliates, WFMY, sometimes has to delay
the network's primetime programming to the wee hours of the morning because
of ACC basketball or Carolina Panthers preseason games, and they'll say that the
delayed network show will start at 2:07 AM or some similar time. (They used to
delay all the CBS soaps during the ACC basketball tournament, where some first-
round games are played in the afternoon; it used to look strange to wake up
early on a Saturday or Sunday morning and see "Young And The Restless," "Bold
And The Beautiful," "As The World Turns," and "Guiding Light" at 5 or 6 AM; I think
they still delay "Y&R," "B&B," and "The Talk," but not "Let's Make A Deal." But I digress.)

I've also noted that, in the past couple of years, WFMY has changed the time of its
Friday-night high-school football highlights show to 11:10, so that Letterman gets on
at 11:35; they used to run the football show at 11:30 and delay Dave to midnight.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I think Leno has always started (except for that primetime disaster two years ago) at 11:35/10:35.

Doesn't the Tonight feed actually come down at 11:34:30 ET? And SNL at 11:29:00 ET?

 

[bpatrick]

Not sure about Leno, but "SNL" does come down at 11:29.

 

[KML0224]

SNL actually starts at 11:29:30 Eastern, to be technical!