After less than a year on the job as host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, NBC fired new host Conan O’Brien. Network execs blamed Conan for the loss in ratings and re-hired Jay Leno, believing his return to the late night desk would ramp up ratings to its previous levels before his retirement. It didn’t.
Now less than 6 months after Jay Leno returned as host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, ratings are the lowest they’ve been since 1992.
According to Variety, during the second quarter of this year the average TONIGHT SHOW audience declined from 5 million viewers last year to 4 million viewers. You may remember that around this time last year, a number of high-profile episodes were featured, including an interview with President Obama, Jay’s final night as host and Conan O’Brien’s debut. Although Jay Leno attracted an impressive 6.6 million viewers on his first night back as host in March, his numbers were still 58% lower than O’Brien’s first night on the job ratings back in June of 2009.
Could it be that perhaps viewers have (already) tired of Jay Leno? Could it be they are angry at NBC for botching the whole Jay/Conan debacle? Or is this just “Team Conan” gearing up to move their late night viewing to the new Conan O’Brien show this fall on TBS?
Whatever the reason, it’s still not good news for NBC.
I really like Conan OBrien. Can't wait for his new show to rip old Jay to shreds.