• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Jay Leno To Fox Next Year?

Pat Cook said:
Fox News is reporting it.....

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainmen...d-jump-to-fox-after-tonight-show-report-says/

cheers & 73 ;D
Click to expand...

I guess it's possible, but I have to wonder why Fox has decided to jump into the overcrowded late-night talk show fray NOW. It would have been smarter to pick up Conan after he left the Tonight Show. As a network that works hard to attract younger viewers, Leno seems like the wrong choice.

As for Jay, I think he'd do it- even though he'd get less money. From what I've heard, he's already taken a couple of pay cuts recently at NBC, and I'm sure he has enough money in the bank for 10 lifetimes. And he's a person who likes to work - can't see him retiring.
 
I have heard Leno say his gig at NBC is an easy one. If FOX gave him enough room to move, I agree that money would be secondary.

I see more of a problem with affiliates falling into line rather than FOX's corporate attitude. FOX preaches conservative, but Murdoch's bottom line is "if it makes him money, he's for it."
 
I doubt Leno is that concerned about money--he has said in the past that he's never spent the money earned from the Tonight Show; he lives off his standup work in Vegas and other areas. While that's likely a stretch, I think he would jump at it for at least two reasons: he likely won't get any other offers and he would love to stick it down NBC's throat--or up another unmentioned orifice. As noted, the whole affiliate situation is the fly in the ointment.
 
Oh dear, if Leno went to FOX that would force my local FOX affiliate to have to reslot it's 17th airing of that day's TMZ somewhere else! The horror of it all!
 
Robnoxious said:
Oh dear, if Leno went to FOX that would force my local FOX affiliate to have to reslot it's 17th airing of that day's TMZ somewhere else! The horror of it all!
Click to expand...

Consider yourself lucky. My local Fox O&O displaced their noon broadcast of TMZ with a truly worthless Dish Nation. TMZ isn't appointment TV but it did have some very funny segments with their studio contributors. Dish Nation is just a monumental waste of electricity.
 
Lkeller said:
Pat Cook said:
Fox News is reporting it.....

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainmen...d-jump-to-fox-after-tonight-show-report-says/

cheers & 73 ;D
Click to expand...

I guess it's possible, but I have to wonder why Fox has decided to jump into the overcrowded late-night talk show fray NOW. It would have been smarter to pick up Conan after he left the Tonight Show. As a network that works hard to attract younger viewers, Leno seems like the wrong choice.

As for Jay, I think he'd do it- even though he'd get less money. From what I've heard, he's already taken a couple of pay cuts recently at NBC, and I'm sure he has enough money in the bank for 10 lifetimes. And he's a person who likes to work - can't see him retiring.
Click to expand...

Llew:

If you follow the link at the bottom of the Fox News article and read the New York Post piece, it explains that FOX pulled back from Conan in 2010 over issues including his lack of compelling ratings at NBC. The head of the FOX affiliates board says Jay is a different story and they're ready to do it if it makes business sense.

Consider it from FOX's point of view:

NBC is creating chaos. Arsenio is coming back in syndication, mostly on FOX competitors. Letting Arsenio establish himself without a response and allowing Fallon and Kimmel to grow could lock FOX out of late-night (a lucrative time period) for another generation.

But if they put Jay on after FOX late local news, that starts him at 11/10 central. He's getting to his big-name guest about the time Dave and the two Jimmys are just getting started.

If Jay works, he damages ABC, CBS and NBC local late news, and the lead-ins to Kimmel, Letterman and Fallon, as well as possibly converting a significant portion of those viewers to FOX late local newscasts, boosting O&O and affiliate ratings and revenue. That, combined with the ability to dump 60 minutes of syndicated programming the stations pay tens of thousands a week to air, is a big plus for affiliate bottom lines.

Even if he's merely competitive in the ratings with the other three shows, all the above holds. But if he wins...if Fallon's not ready or merely splits the Kimmel audience, if Jay viewers follow him to FOX en masse, if people end up hating NBC enough over how they've treated Jay....actually, you only need one of those things to happen to win the timeslot, and all three are possible....the upside is enormous. The only real risk is if Jay completely bombs, and like him or not, he's got enough of a fan base to make that a relatively low risk.

FOX has traditionally skewed a bit young, but has matured over the years. And Leno's audience isn't geriatric. Jay himself is 62, but he's the Energizer bunny. He's got 10 years left, easy. In those 10 years, CBS will almost certainly have to replace Letterman and it's conceivable that NBC (not known for loyalty to its talent) could be a host or two beyond Jimmy Fallon, still trying to find something that works.
 
If Fox did get Jay, what would become of newscasts on certain stations (including some of the Fox O&Os) that air at 11/10 Central? There are quite a few that air a newscast in that slot (my local Fox affiliate, KOKH, being one of them), there could be chance that they might let some affiliates delay the program by a half-hour like they do with the Saturday late night lineup in markets where an 11/10 p.m. newscast airs seven nights a week (like Kansas City, Birmingham and Milwaukee). But who knows?
 
Leno, who's about to turn 63, still has a lot of youthful energy, and would seem to have quite a few more years in the tank.

OTOH, Letterman, who will soon turn 66, is another story. I was watching him recently and it struck me that he seemed really OLD. CBS needs to be thinking about a replacement in the not too distant future.
 
tmanokc said:
If Fox did get Jay, what would become of newscasts on certain stations (including some of the Fox O&Os) that air at 11/10 Central? There are quite a few that air a newscast in that slot (my local Fox affiliate, KOKH, being one of them), there could be chance that they might let some affiliates delay the program by a half-hour like they do with the Saturday late night lineup in markets where an 11/10 p.m. newscast airs seven nights a week (like Kansas City, Birmingham and Milwaukee). But who knows?
Click to expand...

No. To guarantee success, a Leno deal would require an 11/10 Central start. Those newscasts would either move or vanish.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
CBS needs to be thinking about a replacement in the not too distant future.
Click to expand...

CBS tends not to be the kind of company that seeks to do any "preventative maintenance."

In that way, they attract praise from some by maintaining the status quo. In radio, that means being the company with the most live & local hosts, and the most stations in all-news AMs. In TV, it means sticking with people who've been with you forever, like Andy Rooney or David Letterman. You're there for the duration unless you screw up, like Dan Rather. Even then, he was 72 when they showed him the door.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Leno, who's about to turn 63, still has a lot of youthful energy, and would seem to have quite a few more years in the tank.

OTOH, Letterman, who will soon turn 66, is another story. I was watching him recently and it struck me that he seemed really OLD. CBS needs to be thinking about a replacement in the not too distant future.
Click to expand...

Dave aged enormously after his heart bypass. The sex scandal/blackmail attempt took a big toll too.

But Dave won't retire until he knows Jay is gone for good. If Jay ends up on FOX and doing well, Dave will either have to change his mind or face a showdown with CBS.

Trouble is, CBS doesn't have a successor. Craig Ferguson says he doesn't want it. People say Dave likes Conan, but CBS has to like Conan enough to risk the franchise, and there's nothing in his performance at NBC or TBS to make a compelling argument.


The missing link? Since the 1992 Carson succession debacle, neither Dave nor Jay have risked guest hosts (except during Dave's heart surgery and recovery, when he had Regis Philbin), which was a great way to build a bench for when the day comes.
 
Mike said:
Right because 10pm for leno worked out so well 2 years ago
Click to expand...

That was 10pm Eastern. This would be 11pm Eastern on Fox. Or, it could just be 11:30/11:35pm Eastern. But not 10pm Eastern.
 
Mike said:
Right because 10pm for leno worked out so well 2 years ago
Click to expand...

Jay at 10PM met the network's ratings and revenue projections ("A safe third place against first-run shows at one-tenth the cost of an hour-long drama", where NBC was coming in third anyway.

The trouble was that talk shows tend to go soft in the final quarter hour. Jay at 10 hurt the lead-in to NBC stations' local late newscasts, and thus their ratings and revenue. It was affiliate revolt because of that that doomed Jay at 10.
 
Mark said:
I have heard Leno say his gig at NBC is an easy one. If FOX gave him enough room to move, I agree that money would be secondary.

I see more of a problem with affiliates falling into line rather than FOX's corporate attitude. FOX preaches conservative, but Murdoch's bottom line is "if it makes him money, he's for it."
Click to expand...

That's Fox News that preaches conservative. Not Fox broadcast. Jay won't be going to Fox News Channel :)
 
tmanokc said:
If Fox did get Jay, what would become of newscasts on certain stations (including some of the Fox O&Os) that air at 11/10 Central? There are quite a few that air a newscast in that slot (my local Fox affiliate, KOKH, being one of them), there could be chance that they might let some affiliates delay the program by a half-hour like they do with the Saturday late night lineup in markets where an 11/10 p.m. newscast airs seven nights a week (like Kansas City, Birmingham and Milwaukee). But who knows?
Click to expand...

It's in the FOX affiliate contract that any late-night shows must be carried "live" (in pattern).
 
Ha!

Actually, the only thing FOX doesn't have is a huge TV studio complex for the show.

They could follow the Letterman and Kimmel route and broadcast from theatres....or, like Conan at Warners, take over a soundstage on the 20th Century Fox film lot.

But...and this may be a long shot...Jay could stay right where he is. Jay chose to stay behind at the old NBC lot on Alameda when the rest of the gang (apart from local O&O KNBC) moved off to Universal Studios. The lot is owned by another party and NBC is leasing the studio space for Jay. If they can get past scorched earth in the separation negotiations, NBC, which would have no use for the space (Tonight's moving to New York), could transfer the lease to FOX and Jay could do his new show from his old studio...a big plus in terms of comfort for him. Of course, that could be a major incentive for NBC to continue paying for space they don't need...just to make it as tough for Jay as they can.
 
TheBigA said:
Mediafrog+ said:
CBS needs to be thinking about a replacement in the not too distant future.
Click to expand...

CBS tends not to be the kind of company that seeks to do any "preventative maintenance."

In that way, they attract praise from some by maintaining the status quo. In radio, that means being the company with the most live & local hosts, and the most stations in all-news AMs. In TV, it means sticking with people who've been with you forever, like Andy Rooney or David Letterman. You're there for the duration unless you screw up, like Dan Rather. Even then, he was 72 when they showed him the door.
Click to expand...

Ah, but let's not forget how they shoved Cronkite out of the anchor chair to make room for Rather. In fact, CBS used to have a hard and fast mandatory retirement age of 65. They started making exceptions as people they thought were key players (pretty much the entire "60 Minutes" team) bumped up against it. But Cronkite, while told he didn't have to retire and would be given high-profile specials on CBS, found himself frozen out as soon as Rather got the job.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom