We were all for letting Jay Leno get a new show after he left The Tonight Show. The guy still has some kick to him; he deserves to stay on the airwaves.
However, NBC’s risky gamble in giving the late-night legend a permanent spot on their primetime line-up is looking like it isn’t paying off. So far, several decent shows have been given the axe due to the scheduling conflicts and now, local newscasts are feeling the burn as well.
Most stations broadcast their local news in the 10 P.M. time slot, the time Jay Leno now has his comedy hour. The ratings for the NBC affiliates that now have to bump their local news broadcasts to 11 P.M. because of Jay have plummeted, as viewership has moved to other networks still airing local news in the ten o’clock hour.
As with any program, but mostly for local news, viewership is key in gaining more advertising and building the revenue of the NBC empire. In fact, local stations make up for a third of the network’s revenue. That is probably just covering Jay’s paycheck.
They’re calling this decline in viewership the “Leno Effect” and it’ll be interesting to see how long this will continue before NBC has to pull the plug on Jay, simply to stay afloat. They’re already barely keeping above water.
Time to make some changes!
[Image via WENN.]
