We’ve been critical of NBC but we’re big fans of the network and what it is capable of producing. We know there are a lot of smart people there and have had some great experiences talking with them and appreciate the access they have provided us in the past. We want them to be successful but we feel that in their efforts to please everybody, they are alienating everybody. We don’t buy the idea that the affiliates want Jay Leno back at 11:35pm and that Conan O’Brien is the problem. It was to be expected that there would be an initial dip in viewership when Conan took over “The Tonight Show” but this loss in viewers was compounded by Leno’s 10pm show which had viewer drop off both at the beginning and at the end of the hour.<\/p>\n
Freeing up the 10pm hour for scripted TV is what everyone really wants: 5 more hours a week of content that has syndication and DVD value. What would be a shame is if Conan loses out because NBC couldn’t commit to him out of fear of losing Leno’s mid-West viewers. We’re not saying Leno doesn’t deserve to be on TV, he’s a solid performer that delivers to a powerful demographis, but doesn’t NBC Universal have about a jillion other channels he could go to and do a show he really wants to do? Give him that chance but let the Peacock finally graduate into the 21st century.<\/p>\n