ABC, CBS Urge Stars to Boycott Leno

(NEWSER) - After months of promoting Jay Leno's move to 10pm, NBC may shake up its prime-time schedule again, moving its late local news to 10 and Leno to 10:30, the network's onetime programming head speculates. Garth Ancier, now chief of BBC America, shared his speculation with critics at the summer press tour this week in Los Angeles, Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes reports. More»

Comedian may be getting the boot, but tomorrow's looking pretty bright

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno might be losing his beloved "Tonight Show," writes the Hollywood Reporter, but the host still has a ratings punch and an enviable set of options (in decreasing order of probability):

1. Take ABC’s 11:30pm-12:30am slot, displacing Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live and competing with Letterman and O’Brien.
2. Launch a show on Fox at 11 or 11:30pm—Fox doesn’t currently run late-night shows, but could use Leno’s brand to push into the new territory.
3. Sony Pictures TV puts Leno’s Tonight Show into syndication, which could eventually lead to another late-night gig.

Tonight Show ad implies Conan O'Brien never belonged there

(NEWSER) - NBC aired the first promo for Jay Leno’s return to the Tonight Show last night, and it seems to include an underhanded dig at Conan O’Brien. The ad, a sequel to last year’s Super Bowl promo for the Jay Leno Show, shows a “10” decal flying off Leno’s sports car to reveal a new one: “11:35.” The mean part? The Beatles sing, “Get back to where you once belonged” in the background. More»

Face it, O'Brien's ratings weren't great

(NEWSER) - Conan O’Brien joins the ranks of the unemployed today, so the ousted Tonight Show host now has plenty of time to track the backlash and second-guessing about the TV shell game. Jay Leno remains the villain of the piece, but the hard truth is that O’Brien never drew the numbers of young viewers to his time slot that NBC had hoped for. “The 18-to-34 group is so difficult to attract and the lower half, 18 to 25, is the hardest of all,” a strategist told the New York Times. More»

O'Brien contract talks delayed; late night trashing continues

(NEWSER) - As the late night hosts’ jabs at each other and NBC go on…and on…and on, the severance deal between Conan O’Brien and NBC continues to be delayed. TMZ reports the hold-up is over how long O’Brien will be barred from slamming the network—which he did last night...in Spanish. He also wants $600,000 added to the severance pot for his staff, which currently stands at $12 million. Still, sources say a deal should be finalized today. More»