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NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

The longtime NBC executive commented on the Leno/Conan drama, saying it was caused by "an astounding failure by Conan" in his failure to maintain the ratings for "The Tonight Show" when he took over for Leno. (I don't think I found any comments about Leno's own viewership dwindling in primetime.)

Ebersol, currently chairman of NBC Universal Sports, added that Conan was "just stubborn about not being willing to broaden the appeal of his show," and also called cheap shots at Leno by Conan as well as David Letterman on CBS "chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn’t beat in the ratings".

Furthermore, and not surprisingly, Dick defended Jeff Zucker's decision to give Conan a shot at 11:35, but conceded, "We bet on the wrong guy."

Ouch!

Full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/business/media/15conan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

Ebersol speaks the truth. Conan was threatening to leave NBC years ago unless given the Tonight Show. The morons in management agreed and he promptly lost 50 percent of the ratings. Leno's ratings were down but what the network was expecting. It was the affiliates that forced the hand.

The way Conan has handled it on air, it's a good thing David Sarnoff is not still the boss. He'd never work in television again. And who is to say that would be a bad thing.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

It's amazing how quickly people forget. Back in 1992, Leno didn't retain Carson's numbers either. AND, his competition basically consisted of Arsenio (there were others, but none all that serious). He had strong NBC lead ins (Seinfeld was starting a climb in ratings, Cheers was in its final full season, ER came about shortly after Leno, etc.) and cable offerings were not what they were today. Add to that a lack of DVR'ing and internet availability and Leno's competition was not remendously significant.

17 years later, Conan comes to The Tonight Show and the audience drops off...again...with a change in hosting. It happens. However, Conan not only has to compete with more entertainment options, but he had to overcome an awful NBC primetime lead-in (not just Leno), a rejuvinated David Letterman, a very funny Stephen Colbert, the very talented Chelsea Handler, and lets not forget the extremely funny Jimmy Kimmel, who's ratings - while still not as consistent as NBC or CBS - continue to rise.

Conan needed time to build an audience - and despite the fierce competition, I believe he would have done so. If you include Johnny Carson, Leno has now elbowed THREE hosts out of the Tonight Show, all of them very deserving of the job. When Leno's numbers were sagging in 1992, Carson didn't come back to the job. And when NBC offered the show to Letterman post-Leno (see Bill Carter's "The Late Shift"), Letterman turned it down. This allowed Leno to grow. Leno should now grow UP and retire from television gracefully, allowing Conan to grow. He had his day - he had his success. Now he's watching and laughing as someone else's career and dreams go down in flames. It's both telling and sad at the same time.

On the other hand - how FUNNY is Craig Ferguson!?!
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

Dear Mr. Ebersol,

I have been a long time admirier of your work , talent and achievements. I know and I acknowledge how you have made NBC a broadcast leader in the past. However, sir you have now stayed too long at the fair.

I realize that I, as many others, cannot know all of the backroom dealings that have been going on during your present Late Night mess at your Peacock Palace, but I cannot believe or accept how you can lay off all of the blame on Mr. O'Brien.

1. You moved Leno to 10 and supported him as much as possible to the detriment of the Tonight Show. Cllips, promos etc.
all for Jayboy and nothing for Conan for such a long period of time.

2. Jay took some of his audience with him, thus making it more difficult for Conan to gather his new flock.

3. The affiliates had a problem with Leno...Leno....not Conan.

4. So is your statement an attempt to draw fire away from Leno.....to make him appear to be the victim instead of Conan.

5. Is your statement an attempt to make us think that Zucker is a real genius.

6. You have lost all credibility now........I hope you are visited by the ghost of Pat Waver and Johnny Carson.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

obviously....in my epistle above I mean to say Weaver........Pat Weaver....the father of the Tonight and Today Shows....
oh yes and Sigourney too.................................................
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

I got what you meant. As for Sigourney, I hope she and the gang do a good number with all of this on SNL this week! :)
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

NBC needs to STOP giving their Late Night with.... hosts the impression that they are next in line for The Tonight Show. There is no "order of succession." What works on Late Night might not work on Tonight. Late Night hosts are NOT "heir apparent" to the Tonight Show throne. NBC has made this mistake twice! You'd think they would have learned by now. If anyone has ever emerged as "heirs apparent" to the Tonight Show crown, it would have been any number of guest hosts over the years, especially during Carson's reign, like Joan Rivers ('til she bolted for Fox), Garry Shandling, and of course, Jay Leno.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

Hopefully when Comcast gets the keys to NBC they will clean house and fire all of the executives. Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock looks smarter than NBC's current "management" team! This network is a Titanic right now. I don't think the Tonight Show franchise will ever recover from this, even with Leno at the helm. As a viewer, now I see him as someone that will do anything to keep his Tonight Show chair... even if that means brown nosing NBC management. Trust me, I am not a Conan fan... but Leno now comes across as a sleazeball to me that has no conscience for his peers in the business.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

I used to watch the entire Tonight Show every night. Jack Paar was the host. Haven't seen it since.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

When Conan said that he "grew up" watching Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, I did not take that as a slam on Leno. After all, Conan is about a year older than me, and I was 28 when Jay took over the Tonight "franchise." So I didn't "grow up" on the Leno version of Tonight, either.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

I respect Dick Ebersol's work and admire him for coming to the defense of his boss (Zucker), but I totally disagree with his statement.

As Bifstunt pointed out in his post (above), Leno's early Tonight Shows lost ratings compared to Carson, and the show was a much bigger mess than Conan's, in my opinion. But Jay was given time to grow the show, changes were made, and the show became #1 again.

Conan should have been given the same chance, especially when you consider that part of the problem was the poor lead-in from Leno and the deteriorating ratings of the late local news on NBC affiliates.

I've been watching Conan the last few nights - his jokes about NBC is pretty devastating, but he's been very gentle with jokes about Leno personally. It seems to me that he hasn't attempted to blame Jay for this in any way.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

Conan's seven months has been up against "The New Dave" and all that sex scandal-ratings hike too.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

"We bet on the wrong guy."
Click to expand...
Hey, Mr. Ebersol, don't be a (your first name). It's great that you owned up to your role in the failure of your network, but aren't you the head of NBC sports? Where's your dog in this race?

And we don't know (yet) whether or not Conan can beat Jay in the ratings, because up until now, they have never been on against each other.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

It'll be interesting to see and hear how Conan reacts to Ebersol's statement. Wonder how long they'll let him continue skewering the network?
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

They'll let him skewer it until they figure out his last day, which obviously will be sooner rather than later.

It's not like Conan got screwed over. He used some leverage years ago to get himself a guaranteed time to take over the job he wanted, and, smartly, had an insurance policy built into the contract which, regardless of whether Leno went elsewhere or just retired from TV, guaranteed that even if he crashed and burned, NBC would owe him more money than most people will ever see in a lifetime to go away. Had NBC managed to find some hits in the 10 pm slot, Jay wouldn't have been a factor in the way things ultimately turned out. He might have been hanging around the network under contract, but he might well not have been.

Conan took a smart gamble and he lost. No, he didn't get the same time that Leno did, but it's comical how the wanna-be experts talk out of both sides of their mouths in advocating the quick killing of one show that was trying to do something totally new for its time slot, while crying foul that the host taking over an established franchise and promptly sinking should be given all the time in the world to work it out.

That aside, we all know Jay got more time back in his early days. The fact that the competition was less is precisely the point; the days of being able to afford to spend too much time and money on something are gone. Not Conan's fault, not Jay's fault, not NBC's fault. It's just different now than it was back then. It may not even be fair in the great cosmic scheme of things, but life ain't fair all the time, so you accept that basic reality and make the best of how things are now, not looking through rose-colored glasses at a bygone era.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

DToTheJ said:
The longtime NBC executive commented on the Leno/Conan drama, saying it was caused by "an astounding failure by Conan" in his failure to maintain the ratings for "The Tonight Show" when he took over for Leno. (I don't think I found any comments about Leno's own viewership dwindling in primetime.)

Ebersol, currently chairman of NBC Universal Sports, added that Conan was "just stubborn about not being willing to broaden the appeal of his show," and also called cheap shots at Leno by Conan as well as David Letterman on CBS "chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn’t beat in the ratings".

Furthermore, and not surprisingly, Dick defended Jeff Zucker's decision to give Conan a shot at 11:35, but conceded, "We bet on the wrong guy."

Ouch!

Full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/business/media/15conan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Click to expand...

Hey Dick: The XFL.

The old man certainly know something about betting on the wrong guys.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

KentBrockman said:
Hopefully when Comcast gets the keys to NBC they will clean house and fire all of the executives. Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock looks smarter than NBC's current "management" team! This network is a Titanic right now. I don't think the Tonight Show franchise will ever recover from this, even with Leno at the helm. As a viewer, now I see him as someone that will do anything to keep his Tonight Show chair... even if that means brown nosing NBC management. Trust me, I am not a Conan fan... but Leno now comes across as a sleazeball to me that has no conscience for his peers in the business.
Click to expand...

Precisely. There's no way you can look at the Tonight Show in the same way again.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

Ebersol is engaged in revising history to suit the needs of his boss and friend Jeff Zucker.
Conan was not given the same chance that Leno was with the Tonight Show.

Leno's show at 10pm did not deliver the same lead-in to the 11pm local news and therefore significantly hurt the numbers for the 11:35 slot.

Leno's show got the bare bones numbers that NBC expected. Conan's show did better with young demos which is also what they wanted. Leno's show cut NBC's prime-time programming costs. The plan as concocted by Zucker worked for the network's bottom line. His theory was that big ratings didn't matter as much as profit margin. He was looking to increase the margins and didn't care what the audience was, just so long as it was big enough to meet sales expectations.

What forced NBC to make a change was the threat of an open revolt by affiliates who had lost a quarter of their 25-54 audience for their late local news. It was clear some of them were going to jettison or move Leno's show so they could start their local news at 10pm eastern. That would have significantly hurt
NBC's ability to sell ads on Leno's program. They unraveled this deal. The sale to Comcast may also have played a role in this. It's apparent Comcast still believes in paying for shows that get a big audience so you can sell more ads for a higher price. The "playing for the margins" game may be coming to an end at NBC.

You can bet Zucker will leave NBC shortly after Comcast takes over. (if the deal goes through)
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

Look, Conan failed. You simply don't get years to prove yourself anymore. You can't compare 2010 to 1992. We didn't have the internet and the tremendous cable influence in 1992. Conan had seven months and couldn't deliver the same audience as Jay did. He has weird hair and isn't particularly funny.

So, NBC has made a rational decision. The stupid decision should be blamed on whoever signed Conan on 5 years ago at NBC, while Jay was still on top. They should have given themselves and Conan an out under certain circumstances.
 
Re: NBC's Dick Ebersol Dubs Conan "An Astounding Failure" And "Gutless"!

formeraa said:
You can't compare 2010 to 1992. We didn't have the internet and the tremendous cable influence in 1992.
Click to expand...

Sure you can. And you must compare it to 1982, and 1962, for that matter. Bring back Carson---who cares if he's dead? ;)
 
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