After just four months on the air, Leno’s primetime experiment has come to an end. The Jay Leno Show is officially leaving its 10 PM time slot on February 12, NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed on Sunday morning.
NBC said on Sunday that it was abandoning its cost-cutting prime time experiment with talk show host Jay Leno, and “going back to basics.” The NBC will drop its low-rated Leno next month, but sto keep both Leno and his Tonight Show successor Conan O’Brien on its late-night roster.
“I can confirm what many of you are reporting, starting February 12, ‘The Jay Leno Show’ will no longer air at 10 PM,” Gaspin told reporters at NBC’s Television Critics Association session in Pasadena.
Gaspin confirmed the network wants to make Leno shorter and air it at 11:35 PM, with The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien at 12:05 AM and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon at 1:05 AM. But the deal is not done.
“As much as I’d like to tell you we have a done deal, that’s not true. The talks are still ongoing,” he explained. “My goal right now is to keep Jay, Conan and Jimmy as part of our late-night lineup. As much as I’d like to tell you we have a done deal, we know that’s not true.”
Gaspin said the network had come under pressure from its local affiliates who complained audiences had dropped for their lucrative late news broadcasts because of the poor audiences for “The Jay Leno Show
He added, “Both Jay and Conan and Jimmy were incredibly gracious and professional and they all said they understood the situation that I was in. Beyond that was a private conversation.”
Gaspin told reporters that the talk show hosts “have the weekend to think about” the proposed change before talks resume on Monday.