TCA Notes

The major broadcast networks made their presentations at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour this week. Among the highlights: NBC – NBC announced Conan O’ Brien’s final night on Late Night will be on Feb. 20, just three months before he is scheduled to take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in Los Angeles. Replacing him is Jimmy […]

Jay Leno to stay with NBC – at 9 p.m. Central

And that’s 9 p.m. every weeknight. In a stunning and historic announcement, NBC is keeping Jay Leno by giving him a hour a night – in primetime. Leno is expected to take over the 9 p.m. time slot (that’s 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific) every weeknight as a strip beginning next fall. Excluding special events (and My Network TV’s short-lived […]

Jay Leno exits May 29

Tonight Show host Jay Leno will no longer be on May 29, while Conan O’Brien takes over the chair on June 1, in an announcement made today at the NBC portion of the TCA Press Tour. O’Brien is expected to step down as host of Late Night this winter, in order to prepare him for the Tonight Show gig. NBC […]

It’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy’s got the moves. Jimmy has the style. And now, Jimmy has a talk show. As expected, Jimmy Fallon gets the post-Tonight Show slot in 2009, succeeding Conan O’Brien, who of course, is taking over for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show job in this same time frame. NBC made the announcement official in New York today. O’Brien, a former Simpsons writer, took […]

Local stations’ sweeps numbers hit by writers’ strike

Affiliates – who depend on their network’s prime-time programs to draw viewers to their late newscasts – suffered ratings declines during the just-concluded February sweeps as the writer’s strike forced the networks into reruns and were forced to air less-appealing reality shows. Judging by the few markets available for review, NBC affiliates seemed to be affected less, thanks to a […]

We’re Back

Happy New Year! This is The T Dog Media Blog. Welcome Back. Took a New Year’s breather, so let’s catch up on what’s been going on: – Giants-Patriots draws large audience: The NFL triplecast of the New England Patriots – New York Giants game Saturday Night, in which the Patriots beat the Giants to become the first team in NFL […]

WVON program director quits – on the air

It’s not every day that somebody quits on-air – it happened once in 1960 when Jack Paar shocked everyone when he quit The Tonight Show – in the middle of the broadcast – after NBC cut out a joke he made regarding the initials W.C. being confused for a water closet instead of a wayside chapel the previous night (hey, […]

Leno, Conan return to NBC late night

Taking a page from Johnny Carson’s playbook in 1988 during the last writer’s strike, NBC announced Monday that Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will return to work with new episodes of their respective late-night shows on January 2, in lieu of writers. Meanwhile, Letterman’s production company (Worldwide Pants) is negotiating with its writers to return The Late Show with David […]

Writer’s Guild Strike Roundup – 11/9/07

Writers Held Hostage: Day 5 – NBC is planning to lay off its Tonight Show and Late Night staff next week, but may rely on guests hosts on those shows beginning Nov. 19. Meanwhile, The Late Show with David Letterman will be in repeats next week. – Ellen DeGeneres is under fire for crossing the picket line to work on […]

More July numbers

Buffalo: CBS affiliate WIVB-TV and independent WNLO continue to dominate news viewing, according to Nielsen numbers for the July sweeps. WIVB won 5, 6, and 11 p.m. news ratings, while WNLO scored a 6.3 rating at 10 p.m. for its news – among the best in the country. NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV did pull a surprise in the morning news race, […]

More NBC from the press tour

More nuggets from the NBC portion of the press tour: – NBC has signed disposed Grey’s Anatomy star Isiah Washington to appear in five episodes of The Bionic Woman, which debuts this fall. – Jerry Seinfeld will appear on the season premiere of 30 Rock, while Alec Baldwin will stay with the show. Last spring, he wanted out of the […]