Are you with Leno or Conan? The Chin or Conando? Cars or Coco? If you’re like me, you like both of these guys for various reasons. You think they’re both talented and funny in their own ways, and would like to see both of them on TV.
For me, I like Leno because he’s a hard worker, lives off his stand-up income and saves the rest, likes cars, and interacts well with people. But Conan is wacky, has great comedic delivery, and speaks with his body. So what the hell happened between them and NBC?
The backstory:
It all started a few years ago when NBC went to Leno and told him that they had a problem. They basically have the two most valuable talents in late night TV. But Conan would need to get the Tonight Show (at the time Leno’s show) in order for NBC to keep him from moving to a competing network. At the time, Leno said OK, and last year he stepped down from the Tonight Show and Conan took over from his time-slot which was previously after Leno’s.
What’s happened since:
NBC has struggled in the 10:00 PM time-slot for many years. Usually this is filled with some kind of drama series, but everything had been a failure. So they gave Leno a 1 hour show at 10, which was to be followed by news and then Conan doing the Tonight Show at 11:35.
Leno’s show has been a bomb. So bad in fact the local NBC affiliates are complaining. This is because people change the channel at 10, and don’t flip back to their news shows at 11. Without citing specifics, affiliates are complaining about a loss of viewership between 10% and 25%, which is significant. Likewise, Conan’s Tonight Show has suffered too, though it isn’t known fully if that is his fault or further carryover from lost ratings at 10.
So NBC, which is now under new ownership from being purchased by Comcast, is under pressure to remedy the situation. Desperate not to lose Leno, they approached Conan about doing his show at 12:05 and giving Leno a 30 minute show at 11:35.
Bring on the drama:
Conan basically said no to the idea, saying it would hurt the Tonight Show brand to move to 12:05. There was also mention of this perhaps violating Conan’s contract with NBC entitling him to a hefty payout. But Conan’s lawyers made a big mistake when negotiating this contract. Nowhere in the contract does it say Conan is entitled to the 11:35 time-slot. Idiots.
Meanwhile, Leno hasn’t really been saying much. No doubt he’s sad about the situation, but it also seems he’s not interested in leaving television just yet. With people, the media, and celebrities (remember they aren’t people) all seeming to side with Conan, Leno’s image is starting to suffer.
The resolution:
When I wrote this post last night there was no resolution. I’d said this has damaged Leno’s image and Conan will probably get a big payout and move to another network. At 1 AM pacific time this morning, Conan was paid $32 million to walk away from the Tonight Show, and his staff will get $12 million, some of which was provided from his original payout. In other words, he takes care of his staff. Leno does this too, taking his entire staff on vacations and such. Conan is barred from doing another show, but only for a certain period of time which is unknown. This is a sad ending to an unfortunate series of events that started with NBC simply have more talent than they knew what to do with. I’m sure we all hope to see Conan up and running again soon. But regardless, NBC really screwed up here and I thought they had no where to go but up.
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
