NBC Late Night Battle: Jeff Weiss

Skeptics were quick to snicker last year when NBC made the decision to air a Jay Leno-hosted talk and comedy hour five nights a week, but it actually made sense. NBC had promised Conan O'Brien the plum job of hosting the legendary Tonight Show in an effort to keep the popular comic from jumping ship to rivals Fox or ABC. The network also did not want to lose Leno, who made his version of Tonight the top rated late night show for well over a decade. Offering Leno a prime time show was not only a way to keep both performers on the payroll, it also was a cost cutting measure as one daily talk show costs a fraction of what five hour-long prime time dramas cost to produce.

However, only a psychic could have predicted just how bad the experiment would fail. Leno's show was a re-tread of The Tonight Show, and not a very good re-tread at that. Viewers tuned out, causing local news ratings on NBC stations to tank, which in turn left fewer viewers tuned in to sample O'Brien's show that airs after the local news. Also, ABC's Nightline saw an incredible resurgence after the network gave the aging show a makeover with a new format and new co-hosts. On CBS, David Letterman made headlines with a very public spat with former Vice Presidential contender Sarah Palin followed by a Letterman's own blackmail scandal over his affair with employees of his Worldwide Pants production company – all of which brought in huge ratings for his Late Show.

I don't think anyone – whether you are a Leno fan or an O'Brien fan – can disagree with the fact that NBC had to do something to stop the bleeding as week after week the network lost viewers in both primetime and late night. The big question is: are there enough late night viewers to keep Leno, Letterman, and O'Brien on the air? Only time will tell.

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