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I like Jay Leno. On a trip to California last year, I made sure I got tickets for The Tonight Show. Even now, if there’s nothing else on at 10pm, it’s likely I’ll watch Jay. With that out of the way, I have to say Jay doesn’t work for 10pm – and the problem isn’t Jay, it’s the content.
NBC recently canceled Southland because it’s content was too dark for 9pm. With Jay in at 10pm every night, there was no timeslot in which to a show with Southland’s “dark tone.” (That raises the question will NBC ever air really heavy drama again, but I digress.) The problem with Jay’s slot, however, is that comedy isn’t what people want or expect at 10pm. People want and expect a story and/or suspense. There’s no “What happens next?” with the Jay Leno show. We know what happens next – star comes out, makes small talk, sets up a clip, shakes Jay’s hand, leaves, top ten at ten, humorous bit, toss to the news. That’s great for 11:30, not so much for 10pm. On top of it all, the local news programs are losing their audiences because people aren’t watching Jay. Problems all around. Luckily, I have a solution.
It starts by cutting the time of Jay’s show. Not from 60 mins to 30 mins. Instead, cut it from 60 mins to 48 mins. Essentially, Jay loses one of his bits – not too bad. Now, keeping in mind that people like snack-sized content today, create a new 12-minute scripted show and air it between Jay and the news with one commercial break. Make it dark, edgy and easily digestible in 12-minute bites. If the ‘lonelygirl15’ crew can make something compelling in 2-3 minute installments, there’s little reason why NBC can’t do so in 12 minutes. Do not take an hour show and cut it into 12-minute slices. An alternative to the scripted show could be a fast-paced, edge of your seat 12-15 minute game show where the winners of each time compete on Friday for a super prize. One really great thing about the short show is that it works really well on the web and mobile devices.
Do it right and you kill a few birds with one stone – Jay’s ratings go up, local news audience goes back up and, best of all, NBC is seen as an innovator. If it doesn’t work, you’re stuck having to figure out what to do with Jay and as things are you’d be in that position anyway.
Talk about radical thinking, Talib! Very interesting solution that NBC should consider. I added a link to this from my post about Southland on my site:
Why NBC should be arrested for cancelling Southland
http://citycynic.com/2009/10/10/why-nbc-should-be-arrested-for-cancelling-southland/
Hey that might not be such a bad ideal. the Cartoon Network has done something similar to this for years with their adult swim line up of shows. A late night block of cartoons that are depending on the show half an hour or 15 minutes (plus commercial so the shows are actually about 11 minutes)
the adult swim cartoons are more comedic then dramas but I don’t see why something like this would work for a drama as well.
Great idea but it may be too radical for the old guard of NBC. Think about who is watching Jay it’s Middle America. The over 40 set etc. Would they really get a scripted 12 min drama? And what would Tivo do? LOL
The Tivo thing is the part I haven’t figured out yet, but I imagine they would show up on Tivo schedule just like shows that start at 10:01 or 10:05. Movie channels also have awkward airing times. You’re right on the demo, though. I don’t have the slightest clue (yet) about what might be compelling.
Hey that might not be such a bad ideal. the Cartoon Network has done something similar to this for years with their adult swim line up of shows. A late night block of cartoons that are depending on the show half an hour or 15 minutes (plus commercial so the shows are actually about 11 minutes)
the adult swim cartoons are more comedic then dramas but I don’t see why something like this would work for a drama as well.