Appearing on CNN’s Campbell Brown, New York Times television reporter Bill Carter said, “It looks like this is definitely a plan that’s probably going to take place,” possibly as soon as the end of the network’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in February, when regular NBC shows are pre-empted.
Carter, who wrote a piece about the possible NBC plan for The New York Times, told Brown the scenario involves reducing Leno’s current 60 minute program to 30 minutes.
He told Brown that contracts for both performers would have to be re-negotiated. “I think Jay is probably quite willing to do it. I think the question becomes, why would Conan want to do this?” Carter said, indicating O’Brien, the former host of “Late Night,” could be motivated to talk with competing networks.
Carter told Brown that while Leno’s ratings during his long tenure on “Tonight” remained solid, NBC wanted to keep both stars happy. David Letterman jumped from NBC to CBS after being passed over for the “Tonight Show” when Johnny Carson retired.
Carter says NBC affiliates were unhappy about the ratings for their late evening newscasts with the 10:00 p.m. Leno show as their lead-in programming. Moving Leno to 11:35 could signal a return of programs like “Law & Order” and “Dateline NBC” to the 10:00 p.m. time slot, said Carter.
In a statement to CNN, NBC said “Both Jay (Leno) and the show are committed to working closely with them (NBC’s affiliates) to find ways to improve the performance.”