Meet The New Jay Leno Show, Same As The Old Jay Leno Show
The host of NBC's long-running show The Tonight Show, Jay Leno, is basically being forced out of his job, but never fear...he isn't leaving, he's just switching time slots. While younger and presumably more hip Conan O'Brien moves into the late night slot (as opposed to the late late night slot), Jay is taking his show onto the earlier road:
The network will announce Tuesday that Mr. Leno’s new show will appear at 10 o’clock each weeknight in a format similar to “The Tonight Show,” which he has hosted since 1993.Five years ago NBC announced that it would hand the job of host of that franchise show to Conan O’Brien in May 2009. Since then the network has maneuvered to try to keep Mr. Leno, who continues to be the late-night ratings leader, fearing that he could leave and start a new late-night show on a competitor’s network. “The Tonight Show” is seen at 11:35 weeknights.
While rumors had circulated that Jay was entertaining offers from other networks, he was eventually "persuaded" to stay at NBC:
Retaining Mr. Leno will undoubtedly be seen as a coup for Mr. [Jeff] Zucker, who has faced some serious questions about the wisdom of guaranteeing “The Tonight Show” to Mr. O’Brien and possibly losing Mr. Leno to another network.Details of Mr. Leno’s agreement and the new show were provided by NBC executives who were briefed on the matter and who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the project until the network made its announcement.
The new show, which will begin next fall, is expected to be set in Mr. Leno’s longtime studio in Burbank, Calif. Mr. Leno is expected to retain many of the most popular elements of his “Tonight Show,” including his monologue and bits like “Headlines” and “Jay Walking.” One “Tonight Show” staff member said the new program would not be a variety show. [...]
An executive involved in the discussions with Mr. Leno said that Mr. Leno finally came around to the idea that the television business had changed and a show like his could be a success in prime time.
However, some see it as less wanting to keep Jay and more like a cost-cutting measure:
Though Mr. Leno will command an enormous salary, probably more than $30 million a year, the cost of his show will be a fraction of what a network pays for dramas at 10 p.m. Those average about $3 million an episode. That adds up to $15 million a week to fill the 10 p.m. hour. Mr. Leno’s show is expected to cost less than $2 million a week. Continued on the next pagePage 1 2
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