Is Conan Moving?

NBC has seen better days with their late night shows. Recently, there has been talk to move "The Jay Leno Show" away from the 10 pm slot to 11:35 pm after the news. (New York Times, Jan 12. 2010) Jay Leno's new show isn't doing well in the 10 pm slot, but NBC believes it would do better at Leno's old slot when he was hosting "The Tonight Show."

BUT WHAT ABOUT CONAN? Conan O'Brien has been the new host for "The Tonight Show" and has been doing a great job bringing in the younger viewers. He feels like he is being demoted from his position if NBC pushes him back to 12:05 after "The Jay Leno Show." Not only that, but "The Tonight Show" has followed the nightly news for over 60 years. Why punish "The Tonight Show" because of Jay Leno's poor performance? Let's face it, Jay Leno is getting old and has lost his touch with the younger audience. Jay Leno is a great entertainer and host, but Conan seems to be a better long term investment for late night NBC. Jay had his time and now it's Conan's turn to shine in the late night slot.

Conan continues to bring ratings up in the younger age brackets and is respectful to the history of "The Tonight Show." Whatever NBC decides, Conan will either leave the network or keep the show at its original time. He said that he respected the institution of "The Tonight Show" so much that he would not participate in what "I honestly believe is its destruction." I'm with Conan; don't punish "The Tonight Show" for Jay Leno's poor performance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/business/media/13conan.html?ref=media