This is a particularly horrible idea

brianvan:

NBC Expected to Give 10 P.M. Show to Leno - NYTimes.com

This is sort of like saying, “Well, we have a nice car already, but we already promised to buy another one and keep it in the garage, so let’s just keep the older car in the kitchen.” How do you not have a 10pm slot? Unless you’re Fox or CW.

No, this is a smart response to the changing media environment. Within the next five years, a) entertainment will become even more niche and “long tail,” and b) “appointment” viewing of entertainment shows in real-time will be dead (or, finish dying), due to TiVo, Hulu, and the like. And c) those shows will get more and more expensive to produce, with diminishing returns. Leno solves all that: a) cheaper to produce, and b) topical, therefore has a prayer of attracting an “appointment” (real-time, non ad-skipping) - and maybe mass - audience. The idea that, over the next decade, people are still going to watch some hour-long drama at 10 p.m. like ER or Law and Order is unrealistic.

Completely agree, Peter. It’s a brilliantly-shrewd programming shift that directly affects the bottom line, to the tune of $10Mish per week in production expenses. Plus, it opens Leno up to a wider audience (people who go to bed well before 11:30pm, aka the exact folks to whom he appeals) and haven’t yet adopted Tivo/DVR/Hulu viewing. It’s also completely malleable. When the economy rebounds and programming budgets recover, NBC can go back to developing hour-long dramas for the 10pm slot and shift his time slot again (7pm against ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, maybe?). AND it solves the problem of giving Conan the show they long ago promised him while keeping Leno from moving to a competing time slot and network.

Source brianvan