Written by Tiffany Jones
Conan O’Brien has left the building. A mere seven months into hosting “The Tonight Show,” O’Brien handed the reins back to Jay Leno on January 24, after two weeks of war between the two hosts and Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC.
What started this battle? 30 minutes. Leno’s move to primetime and the poor ratings that followed began to cost NBC. Not only did “The Jay Leno Show” fail to bring in the numbers, but it also began to cut into the late news ratings. According to the research firm Harmelin Media, numbers dropped 25 percent in viewers 24-54 years old.
NBC is in a lot of trouble. The network already stands to lose a considerable amount of money on the upcoming Winter Olympics. Zucker decided that a move back to Leno’s original 11:35 p.m. slot during the Olympics would fix ratings woes for “Tonight,” which was not bringing in the same numbers he had seven months ago.
The battle began when O’Brien did not accept the time change and wrote a statement against it.
“I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day… will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting,” O’ Brien said.
He even put “Tonight” on Craigslist advertising and said that it was “designed for 11:35 but easily movable,” and he was “willing to trade for Coldplay tickets.”
Zucker gave O’Brien the option of moving “The Tonight Show” to midnight or walking. O’Brien took the second option, walking away from “The Tonight Show” with $45 million and gave about $15 million to his staff for severance.
For college students it is hard to watch late-night talk shows. Austin Jenkins, a junior and late night fan, only watches them in the summer.
“School conflicts with watching late night,” Jenkins said. “Normally if I’m up that late I’m doing homework, not watching “The Tonight Show.”
Many students opt for watching their favorite hosts online. Saoirse Dryden didn’t know about the NBC uproar because she only watches Craig Ferguson online.
Now O’Brien, with over 30 million in his pocket, is free to move on to the next thing. Rumors have been swirling about a potential move to Fox. The network itself has said, “We’re always interested in late-night. Conan would be a great fit for Fox.”
Junior Sam Maurer is not concerned about O’Brien’s potential move to Fox.
“People followed him from “Late Night” to “Tonight,” and now with all of this media attention everyone will be watching whatever show he does next.”
