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Post by Chilehead on Oct 19, 2009 15:57:18 GMT -5
All across the country, NBC affiliates are cringing nightly as their once-healthy late night newscasts are experiencing huge drops in viewership. With 'The Jay Leno Show' as their new "lead-in" every night, stations in Baltimore to Kansas City and beyond are attracting fewer and fewer eyeballs to their prized newscasts, according to a report by the LA Times. During his debut week, Leno averaged 12 million viewers nightly. But now, he's attracting an average of about 5.6 million fans, which comes to about a third of the viewers the network drew last year with its slate of drama programs. From a business standpoint, a talk show makes sense. Its much cheaper than footing the bill for a pricey scripted drama. But shifting away from dramas has so far backfired for the network, as it has limited the kind of content they can run earlier in the evening. Earlier this month, the network cut ties to one of its most promising new shows, the cop drama 'Southland,' because it felt it was too "gritty" for the earlier 9 p.m. time slot. Michael Cudlitz, one of its stars, called NBC brass "dumb f----ing people" for the decision. It remains to be seen if other scripted dramas will feel the "Leno Effect," as it's being called in the industry. With 10 locked up for Leno, a show that tackles sensitive subjects, like sex-crime themed 'Law & Order: SVU,' must now air earlier. 'L&W' creator Dick Wolf is disappointed with NBC's decision to do away with five hours of scripted drama. More
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Post by Osprey on Oct 19, 2009 20:57:05 GMT -5
Wow... that is surprising... and quite the unexpected consequence...
I'm one of the viewers that Leno is not attracting... I don't like that kind of show, so I won't be watching...
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Post by thong_of_doom on Oct 19, 2009 21:48:48 GMT -5
I bet he makes up some ground once the other shows go into reruns
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Post by RapunzeL on Oct 20, 2009 13:53:05 GMT -5
I bet he makes up some ground once the other shows go into reruns Exactly what I was thinking. I am watching less & less TV lately. There's a CSI or another clone forensic/cop show on every channel. Then, when you switch to the other lesser cable networks, they have the same shows in reruns. Enough, already. But to get back to the subject, I thought that Leno would have, at least, captured 1/3rd of the audience for his time period.
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