I'm With CoCo!

Only a few times in the history of television have there been major screw ups… but seriously folks what’s with NBC lately?

Back in 2005, when NBC first announced that there would be a passing of the torch from Leno to Conan for Tonight Show duties, I thought it was a switch that made sense. Leno’s show was usually funny, but Conan was a master of comedy who appealed to the younger, hipper masses.

Fast forward to January 12th 2010, when Conan announced that he would not continue to be the host of The Tonight Show if it was moved to 12:05AM, and you have to wonder where it all went wrong.

The short answer is, the recession. Television (like everything else) took some huge financial hits over the past year, and NBC was no exception. As it turns out, the Conan/Leno switch took place during the absolute worst time it possibly could.

The reason NBC is trying to turn back the clock on its programming decisions is because of affiliate pressure over Conan’s lousy ratings. Although NBC executives love to get out and pronounce that Conan is attracting the younger (and more desired) demographic audience, the truth of the matter is that his overall ratings have fallen way behind The Tonight Show’s arch nemesis, The Late Show with David Letterman. The timing could not be worse for NBC affiliates who can’t afford to be losing money, especially when some of them never supported the late night switch-up in the first place.

As if things weren’t difficult enough for Conan and crew, there are a number of drama programs that are hoping NBC goes through with its plan and moves The Tonight Show to 12. Tim Kring’s Heroes has been suffering its own ratings crisis for the past few seasons, but is still seen as one of the more marketable shows in NBC’s lineup. Trauma, in its first season, and Chuck, still finding its audience, could also benefit by picking up the vacant 10 o’clock time slot. Not to mention any one of the new pilots that NBC has ordered which include shows from producers J.J. Abrams and Jerry Bruckheimer.

There has been some talk of Conan going to Fox, the other network supposedly looking to get into the late-night talk show business. Even that proposal seems more like a pipe-dream since one NBC executive, when talking to the New York Times, estimated the cost of starting a new late-night program at being $70 million – plus issues with getting Fox affiliates to stop showing syndicated shows such as episodes of Seinfeld which are currently doing just fine. In the end, it might not be profitable for Fox to try and take in Conan… at least not right now.

We will know soon enough how NBC plans to fix things, and hopefully they will have learned some valuable lessons. In the meantime, the internet has already gone off starting TeamConan Twitter feeds and proConan Facebook groups. Hopefully those same people will watch whenever and wherever Conan ends up. I hope too that it is some place where he gets paid what he deserves, and continues to do what he does best… entertain the hell out of people. Remember folks, if anyone asks just tell um… I’m with Coco.