From NBC to CBC

For years we have blamed the CBC of hanging on to dead shows.  Kristine Layfield says there is “growth potential” for shows that don’t do well off the bat.  What about a show that is six years old but still shows no growth year after year like The Hour ?  What about other shows that need improvement, vast improvement and yet the CBC is just content to let the show fester and eventually burn out.

If you worked at the CBC you would think it’s great that no matter how bad you’re doing or how long you’ve been there (cough *Mansbridge*) you’ll always have a job.  I know the CBC’s number one goal is not only profit but delivering Canadian content so they are not exactly on the same playing field as NBC, but it leads me to think … what about this Jay Leno/Conan debacle.

You have probably heard by now, but in case you haven’t (taken from a blog that no longer exsists):

“You have to love NBC. First they screw over David Letterman by giving “The Tonight Show” to Jay Leno. Then they screw over Jay Leno by giving “The Tonight Show” to Conan O’Brien. Next they screw over their affiliates and give Leno a prime time show that’s profitable yet gets terrible ratings leading into their local news. Now they’re screwing O’Brien over and giving Leno his time slot back. My question is how does this effect Carson Daly? Will he be the next one screwed over. ”

As we await Conan’s decision, in this dramatic late night switch. My question is, do you think the CBC should take a page from NBC’s playbook ?  CBC’s late night line up has several flaws and extremely poor ratings.  The National scores 550 000 -to 800 000 viewers and  The Hour gets it’s ass handed to it being beat 10 to one in ratings CTV news.   Is the CBC savings face, and if NBC can admit there’s a problem with Leno’s new show in a few months why can’t the Ceeb ? Should they be as proactive as NBC is being or is their loyalty to their programs and talent something to be applauded ?

41 Comments

  • Allan says:

    If everyone has had their sandwich, maybe we can get back to what PoonGirl brought up.
    Is it loyalty that keeps loser shows on the air?
    Or is it stagnation, entropy, incompetence, fear, lack of drive, face-saving and expediency?
    None of us know, for example, if Strombo signed a five-year deal, as compared with other shows which must justify their existence season to season (and then often be given one more season just so’s the director will shut up about being cancelled prematurely, having conveniently ignored the dismal ratings, or claiming “we were just getting started when you pulled the plug”).
    It’s possible that George’s tenure and continuing renewal is governed by a different understanding than public acceptance. In his case, it seems more like resignation and relying on public apathy, something not hard to find in a television audience.
    His time so far at the CBC looks a lot like someone who was promised work regardless of results, and with a commitment to promote him like no one else, the CBC being confident that with their tools and smarts they could manufacture belief.
    We may remember “The Point”, a resounding failure, almost immediately the week it came on the air.
    But Donlon stuck it out, resorting to the first cop-out;
    “it needs time to find an audience”. But The Point never improved. It didn’t know how to make good radio. Not after two months or five months. Nevertheless it was kept on for the full season.
    How many ratings reports did Donlon need to see that this show was failing? Or was is it just as much a matter of having nothing waiting in the wings?
    Whatever the reason at the CBC, the public had to endure many, many hours of something they didn’t want to hear, even if it was developing a small clique following (mostly those, and friends of those, who appeared on it).
    When it comes to The Hour, it’s looking more and more like we’re stuck with George, and his nightly practice sessions doing stand-up.
    There’s a sense that the CBC is incubating him, for continuing use as an all-purpose host for when the older people can’t be bothered.
    We could conceivably be looking at him waving his arms for the rest of our lives, as he pretends to be “authentic”.

    • Anonymous says:

      It’s all about apathy & resignation, Allan. The rest of the country realizes that the CBC isn’t interested in talent, ability or qualifications. It’s like a family business (like the royal family?). It’s all about who you know, who you are married to, who you are dating or married to, what parties you get invited to, whether or not you live in Toronto, what school you went to(in Ontario), what union you belong to, or what media group you worked for (in Toronto). The Toronto culture clique rules!

  • PoonGirl says:

    Oh my Bridg, a man after my own heart ! Do we know eachother ?

  • Bridg says:

    If I have to go through Jian to get to you, I will, Poonie. And believe me, I can bore through him like a tunneling machine possessed.

  • PoonGirl says:

    Oh, you don’t want to be a part of a yummy Jian sandwich, or should I say shwarma ?
    You on the bottom, Jian in the middle and me on top ?

  • Bridg says:

    Am I to understand PoonGirl and Mercer ran a train on Jian?

  • Anonymous says:

    Jian also isn’t following anyone black on Twitter. How is that possible in this day and age? There’s not one black person on the planet that Jian wants to follow on Twitter?

    Apparently his vision of multiculturalism doesn’t include blacks.

  • PoonGirl says:

    Jian is bisexual.

  • PoonGirl says:

    Jian Tweet – Was guest on Conan back in day. Love Conan. Have interviewed Conan. Conan should leave NBC. Sooner the better.

    Wow, it’s like him and Conan are friends :) I bet Conan probably phoned him and Jian posibbly co-wrote his letter to us about his decision to not be moved up. Jian really has his finger on the pulse of it all !

    • Anonymous says:

      Conan’s letter was concise and humble – it couldn’t have been co-written with Jian.

    • Anonymous says:

      Of the 35 people Jian is following on Twitter, 27 are women and 8 are men. Of the men, there’s Michael Moore, Jimmy Fallon, Douglas Coupland and Bigfoot. The women are mostly unknown young hotties. What does this tell you about Jeeyawn?

  • Jeff says:

    Someone call Ralph Benmergui

  • Jeff says:

    He’s the King how Leno ever beat him for ratings I don’t know.

  • anonymous says:

    It’s not about Conan, it’s about Jian and how the Conan story relates to him. Notice how Jian (pron. john) tweets interview segments starting with Me:
    Says so much.

    • Anonymous says:

      Exactly. And he tweets “Was guest on Conan back in day.” as if he was sitting in the chair next to Conan being interviewed as “Jian Ghomeshi”. What he fails to mention is that it was his crappy group, Moxy Fruvous, that were musical guests on Conan’s show and that they just played a song and left. And to cloud matters even further, back then he called himself “Jean Ghomeshi”. Ugh.

      • Johan Ghomeshi says:

        lmao@ Jian using Twitter to rewrite his own history…..”Moxy who?”……”I was the only guest on Conan’s show that night”……A Late Night with Conan O’Brien Special : One full hour with some Canadian guy that you’ve never heard of

      • Anonymous says:

        Nice bit of name-dropping…la-di-da!

      • anonymous says:

        …and the band wasn’t on because of some great musicianship, it’s because of their novelty song.

    • Anonymous says:

      Actually, everything relates to him (since it revolves around him, too). Hubris!

  • PoonGirl says:

    Howard Stern doesn’t like Leno because he stole Stuttering John away without as little as a courtesy phone call. Never heard he was a weasel though !

  • Anonymous says:

    Jay is a weasel. He blamed it all on Helen Kushnick last time, who’s he going to blame this time?

    As anyone who read the book “The Late Shift” or saw the movie knows, Jay once hid in an empty office to listen in on a private conference call between NBC and GE execs, took notes and then used inside info that he heard to blackmail the execs into giving him The Tonight Show job, since he knew from the conference call that their preference was Letterman.

  • PoonGirl says:

    Ha Ha, good one Anon 10.51 ! Jian was quick to tweet that he had appeared on Conan’s show (maybe when he first started). I can’t beleive Conan wouldn’t take advice from Jian Ghomeshi, I mean, he does 1.5 hours of radio a day (wow) !

  • Anonymous says:

    Looks like Conan isn’t listening to Jian’s advice on twitter.

  • Anonymous says:

    Statement released by Conan today :

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/conan-obrien-says-he-wont-participate-in-the-destruction-of-the-tonight-show.html

    Conan O’Brien says he won’t participate in the ‘destruction’ of ‘The Tonight Show’
    January 12, 2010 | 12:45 pm

    “The Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien just released a statement regarding his pending status at NBC.

    In the lengthy letter addressed to “People of Earth” — full text follows — O’Brien says he has not received any offers from competing networks but also says he will not continue with “The Tonight Show” should it move to 12:05 p.m., as NBC said on Sunday it would.

    Specifically, O’Brien said he would not participate in what he termed “the destruction” of “The Tonight Show.”

    “I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’™t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.”

    The statement in its entirety:

    People of Earth:

    In the last few days, I’™ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’™ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’™ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’™ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

    Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

    But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

    Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’™t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

    So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’™t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

    There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

    Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’™s always been that way.

    Yours,

    Conan

  • Jeff says:

    This repeat of the Late Night wars has reaffirmed for me that tv execs are just making it up as they go along.

    CBC isn’t any off the rails more than any media corporation we’re just poor and can’t afford true talent in front and behind the cameras and we cant’pay our way out of our mistakes.

  • PoonGirl says:

    I’m too tired now, and if this blog paid or I was an unemployed bum who didn’t work I would expand on all those points you mentioned.

    I will try tomorrow.

    As for ratings they have been posted here a billion times before.
    The National – 550 000 – 800 000
    The Hour – 120 000
    Ghost Whisperer – who cares

    Yours Truly,

    Poonie

  • Alan says:

    A more substantial post Poongirl. But lets “up” the standards a bit. How about fleshing this out a little more?

    “CBC’™s late night line up has several flaws and extremely poor ratings..”
    -What are the flaws?

    -How about some historical rating trends. Telling us ratings are “extremely poor” without any figures is meaningless.

    -Where is the large quote from, we need a source. Some anonymous blogger?

    -This line makes no sense:
    “I know the CBC’™s number one goal is not only profit but delivering Canadian content so they are not exactly on the same playing field as NBC, but it leads me to think ’¦ what about this Jay Leno/Conan debacle.”

    “Kristine Layfield says there is ‘growth potential'”
    -When did she say this? What context?

    “What about other shows that need improvement, vast improvement and yet the CBC is just content to let the show fester and eventually burn out.”
    -Which shows? What leads you to believe this?

    -Is this really “loyalty to programs and talent”? Or do they simply lack the skills, energy, money to build something to replace it? Just because I gave you a hard time doesn’t mean its a more substantial post if you back out of taking any sort of position on the issue.

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