Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Jay Leno ripple effect

NBC's decision to put Jay Leno on during prime time five nights a week could turn out to be a stroke of genius or one that backfires. While there has been much written about what this does to prime time and how the other networks will react, little has been said about what this does to local news.

If you work the late shift for an NBC affiliate, your job just got a lot harder. Especially if you're a producer.

(Well, one thing will be easier... I can write part of your late news promo right now: "These stories and more, right after Jay Leno." That one will work every night.)

Your late news will now follow the same thing every single weeknight. Makes it harder to cross promote with prime time topics. For instance, if the drama that ran before your late news did an episode about adoption, you could run a local story about the same topic. Can't do that with a talk show.

How will you make the transition from Leno's style of comedy directly to death and destruction? 10pm hasn't traditionally been a home for comedy/variety shows. I think the last successful one on a weeknight was hosted by Dean Martin about 20 years ago.

Will Leno siphon the comedy audience from Conan O'Brien, who takes over the Tonight Show? If that happens, this affects your morning show, as studies have shown that the station people turn off at night is the one they watch when they get up. And if they're not watching Conan....

It might be interesting to see if NBC stations change their approach and the style of news presented at 10pm. Might this actually mean the return of the feature story... something that would be naturally promotable during Leno?

We'll find out soon enough. Meanwhile, I've given consultants something to do.

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