question of the day: NBC cancels prime-time Leno: why did it take so long?

The Leonard note suggests that NBC is still chasing the Neilsens - presumably because that's what the advertisers are still looking at. In turn - assuming the advertisers are not entirely stupid - that's because the people watching live are pretty close to being the only ones who still see the commercials.

If they had actually found an audience for this talk-show, and if they had been right about people wanting to watch it live rather than delayed, it would have been a whole lot more profitable than anything else on the air. They may have lost this gamble, but at least they had the guts to try it - unlike the other networks which are sticking their heads in the sand and pretending the old advertising revenue model is still feasible.

(I don't have a DVR - or a TV - myself, but I'd have thought the obvious thing to do is start watching 18 minutes after the start of the program, and skip commercials until you're up in real-time by the end of it...)

My guess would be some sort of misguided loyality to Leno. Same reason I believe they keep giving the shaft to Conan, inspite of the fact he has always been funnier. In a personal gallop poll nobody I asked thought Leno was better.

Aren't class clowns typically funny?

Class clowns can be funny, but just as often they keep mugging for attention, and eventually everyone gets tired of listening to them. Smaller Doses.

screw Leno, Craig Ferguson all the way!

As an older American, I think the anti-Leno bias has an ageist tinge. True, Leno doesn't have any edge or any actual originality. But many of my fellow boomers look at Jay as comfort food - his comedy is the comedy of our youth (unrefreshed since the 70's) So Conan, who is certainly more creative, doesn't hit the same buttons, and as a result, has been losing to Dave (who is happy to repeat the same jokes every day for maximum comfort).

@misterb: aren't you a bit embarrassed by the fact that you have no problem admitting that you're going along in the same old groove (not groovy) all the time as far as humor goes? Boomers used to be proud to the point of arrogance of their go forward attitude and trying new things, distrusting the old and the established. expand your mind, man. Leno is old and tired and not funny; Letterman is just a cranky bore. i thought they had moved Leno to 10:00 because most of his core audience couldn't stay up past the 11:00 news anymore. i don't like talk shows in general... but i like Colbert and Stewart and Craig Ferguson... sharp, edgy and vital.

I was going to say that it's because, like generals fighting "the last war," TV execs are notoriously several years behind viewer trends. But I don't think that's it.

Rather, I think it's cause the show was super cheap to produce. Plus, whoever signed off on the idea in the first place was just desperate to keep Leno int he stable.

Craig Ferguson for President! (No, wait. I don't think that can happen. Craig Ferguson in an earlier time slot!)

Y'know, it occurs to me that if Jay Leno has possesses anything resembling class or professionalism, he'll have NBC buy him out of his contract and retire, rather than bumping The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brian out of its time slot.