bluejeangirl76 wrote:SherriBerry wrote:Jana wrote:JasonD wrote:Peartree12249 wrote:Once they get rid of Conan, Leno will be back on the Tonight show.
I don't get what's happening. I thought they said the problem was with Jay..... so then why are they bumping Conan & giving Jay back the coveted spot?
Btw.... I don't have a preference here. They both have their pros & cons. I do like Jay's Headlines portion of the show but I don't like the whole hip, cool, happenin' let's-do-away-with-the-desk thing. The rest of his show is pretty much the same as it was before.
As for Conan, what's the story with Max? Is he still with Springsteen or not? And if so, how's he able to juggle both gigs?
Jay had huge ratings when he left the Tonight Show. Five years b/f they offered the job to Conan and said Jay would retire in five years. I think Conan had an offer somewhere else and wanted the 11:30 slot. They didn't want to lose him because they felt he would bring in the younger demographics, so, essentially, forced Jay to retire in five years. When it came time to leave, Jay's ratings were still huge, beating Letterman, and he wasn't happy about being forced out. They were so nervous he would start a show like on Fox against them, that they created the ten o'clock show, which has bombed. Conan's ratings at 11:30 have been low and Letterman is soundly beating him. If Conan had massive ratings, I think he would have had more bargaining power to stay at 11:30. So they are bringing Jay back. But will all this negative publicity hurt Jay? Remains to be seen.
Since Jay was forced to retire in the first place, I think the negative publicity will blow over. If Jay had left on his own and then decided he wanted TTS back, it would be an entirely different story! It's interesting that the most criticism he is receiving is from other lateshow comedians who are in a postion to feel threatened by him or wanted his job in the first place, but while Jay has the option of turning down TTS and walking away, he has every right to accept NBC's offer if they want to give it back to him. He doesn't owe Conan anything, but I guess the outcome will depend on how the situation is handled.
What doesn't make sense to me is that I have not heard or read anything about people being upset about the idea of Jay going off the air - everywhere I go I seem to find the concensus that people do not like Jay, didn't like his on the tonight show, were Letterman watchers until 12:30 when Conan came on... my sister said the same thing - she's found nothing among all these message boards and public opinion things.... I've heard a lot of radio call-ins and NO love for Jay - and the NBC management seem to be the only people who are oblivious to this.
Right up until Jay was forced off TTS, he soundly beat Letterman every night in the ratings, so the people who are posting in the polls or on message boards may be the most vocal but they aren't TTS audience that NBC wants back - the older audience that doesn't speed text and use Facebook.

It sounds like the only ones calling in or posting are either Letterman fans or the younger demographic who aren't watching Conan at 11:35pm - if they had tuned in in the first place, Conan's numbers would not have been so bad and NBC would not be looking to move him!
I have a feeling that TTS show audience who watched Jay are the silent-majority types who don't post, call-in , or make a fuss - they will watch Jay if he comes back at 11:35pm and if he doesn't, they'll watch Letterman.