Friday, January 15, 2010

Weekend Video: Jimmy Kimmel attacks Jay Leno

Watch this clip of Jimmy Kimmel decimating Jay Leno on the Jay Leno Show. It's hilarious.

Haven't posted in about a week, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention anything the Leno-Conan Wars going on right now. I assume most are aware of the current situation: Leno named Conan as successor, decides he doesn't want to retire, gets a prime-time show, show tanks and apparently gets The Tonight Show back.

While rumors of a "Tonight Show" deal being finalized has not been confirmed, it appears as though NBC wants to support Leno, which I don't completely understand. Apparently, it is being reported NBC has even offered O'Brien $30 million to leave.

Sure, Leno was the #1 late-night guy when he left, and Conan's ratings a considerably lower, but it takes time to build an audience. Time it appears he is not going to get, despite the time Leno was given when replacing Johnny Carson.

Additionally, isn't it about time to build a new "Tonight Show" audience? I know Leno has this weird hold on the fixed-income crowd, but is that what NBC really wants? To own the viewing rights of the elderly? They're not telemarketers, for crying out loud. NBC has got to be the only major network (no, the History Channel is not considered a "major" network) actively pursuing the "Age 50 - Dead" demographic, which is a mistake.

Ages 18-49 is the key demo for advertising money, and Conan is popular within that group. People are getting married later, having fewer kids and, in many cases, both the husband and wife are working, thereby creating more discretionary income at a younger age. Leno does not compare with Conan in that group.

Proof of that lies within the reaction to this whole ordeal. Groups were created on Facebook to proclaim allegiances. Last time I checked, "Team Conan" and "I'm with Coco" have a combined total of over 225,000 supporters, while "Team Jay" and "Team Leno" combine for under 2,000 members. Doesn't that say something?

I think so.

Make the right and smarter choice, NBC. Keep Coco.

4 comments:

  1. Dad told me to watch the 10 at 10 clip. I now have a new respect for Jimmy Kimmel. Also, I agree with you. But that could be because I think Coco is hilarious.

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  2. Wouldn't the lack of support for Leno on Facebook be attributed to we dead old folks having no computer skills besides being utterly useless to the world???

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  3. Scotty--
    Interesting point about Leno needing time to get out from Carson's shadow. According to Wikipedia (the sum of all knowledge) Leno was dominated by Letterman's CBS show for the first two years of his reign as the Tonight Show host. Imagine if NBC took the same attitude with him then as they're doing with Conan now...

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  4. Daniel, it is also important to realize that during the early part of Leno's 1st Tonight Show run he was the beneficiary of one of the stronger prime time lineups in the post-cable, pre-TiVo era. Today NBC is by all accounts almost totally devoid of any good series all of which impact the ratings of the later programing.

    Part of what makes me the saddest is that it is being reported that as part of the buyout talks, NBC will maintain control of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

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