Last week, I heard the unfortunate news that the "Jay Leno Show," which is on NBC every week night at 10 p.m. on NBC, is not doing well in the ratings.
In fact, its ratings are so bad that Leno doesn't even beat out a "C.S.I. Miami" rerun. Even local NBC affiliates are starting to complain, including 11 p.m. local news shows.
In a lengthy interview with "Broadcast & Cable," Leno took most of the blame for his new show's poor ratings, but also revealed that the earlier time slot was not his idea.
"Would I have preferred to stay at 11:30?" Leno asked himself in the interview. "Yeah, sure. I would have preferred that."
After dominating the late night talk show circuit for 17 years at the 11:30 p.m. time slot, NBC pushed Leno up to 10 p.m. in September. The results have been less than stellar.
But Leno is far from ready to throw in the towel. In fact, he is excited for the challenge of recapturing his ratings.
"I think it's too soon to say whether I regret anything or not," he said. "My thing is, I did 'The Tonight Show' for 17 years, that's what I did. It's like the America's Cup; you won it, they can't take it away from you. So now you try this and you see what happens."
I admire Leno for his optimism and persistence.
I think Leno will do just fine and will outlast his rivals and detractors. After all, he's done it before.
Let me know what you think and see you tomorrow night!
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I admire his optimism as well. It's really great that he points out something positive that he has done in the past and knows that he will always have that experience, even if he does not do as successful with his new show.
ReplyDeleteI also think one of the reasons that he might not be doing as well is because the media made such a big deal out of him leaving "The Tonight Show" so now he is kind of old news. I think this is affecting him negatively.
But I do want the best for him and I hope that his new show does great!
I find it hard to believe that after years of success he is starting to struggle in ratings; I can't imagine there not being a "Jay Leno Show" anymore. I think it is good that he is ready for a fight, but I think it will be difficult for him to regain fans. I hope for his sake that he succeeds, however it would not surprise me if it is a downhill battle. There are so many shows to watch he'll have to fight for the spotlight.
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