The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy by Bill Carter documents an insider’s view of the most significant shake up in late night since Leno beat out Letterman for the coveted “The Tonight Show” chair. It’s a very long read (at least it seemed long). For folks who track television and media news in general, a look at the behind the scenes of dozens of conversations related to the drama that started in 2004 and ended with what I believe is the end of the post-golden era of late night. Or simply, the generational fault lines no longer could handle the friction of different demographic (younger), changing viewing behaviors (time-shifting), the explosion of alternatives (cable) and rapid technology changes in how media is consumed (Internet).
For the most part, I found parts of the book fascinating. Carter seems more aligned with the media fetishists, hyper focusing on too many similar variations on a theme; he lacks creating a story out of all his reporting and research. Granted, he structures the book around three primary conflicts.
First, Carter spends considerable effort in setting the background that leads up to the NBC train wreck of 2009/10. Providing extensive biographical information on Conan, he walks the readers through his career starting as a writer on the Simpsons, to his first awkward appearance on the Tonight Show after he was announced as the new host of Late Night following the Tonight show, and finally to the promise that NBC executive Jeff Zucker (fired when Comcast bought a controlling stake in NBC/Universal) made in promising him the Tonight Show chair. In five years. Trust us.
It’s this combination of naturally opposing and combustible personality types that lies at the root of the late night disaster. Basically, media management is a ruthless, numbers-focused, bottom-line-comes-before-everything group of suits, while talent is portrayed as the creative visionaries who, with the exception of Jay Leno, cared more about art than ratings at the end of the day. Of course, the sweet spot is where these two personality types and their base motivations find mutual agreement.
Five years later, Leno was forced out – even as he was consistently beating out Letterman in the ratings. To have kept Leno would have resulted in a $40mm payment to Conan – NBC ended up paying him and his staff that much in any case.
The second act followed the development and deal making associated with creating the Jay Leno show at 10pm. Carter describes how a lack of leadership, Leno’s overconfidence in transferring his magic to primetime, and one compromise too many led to a revolt from the affiliates (Leno was killing their local news ratings as a lead-in), criticism from both the media and competitors on its poor performance (Zucker always fell back on the argument that since the show was cheaper to make, a hit in ratings still resulted in a profitable show), and of course the hit to The Tonight Show. With only 30 minutes separating the two shows, the viewership dropped for both – who wants to watch two versions of the Tonight Show.
The final act went out of its way to counter the portrayal of Jay Leno as mastermind by portraying him as someone who decided to win at all costs. In his stand-up days, Leno was a comic’s comic. He was edgy and original. When he got the Tonight Show, he went down the middle. He worked harder than everyone else in the business, and he understood the importance of getting good ratings even if it meant sending the show further down the well of mediocrity.
In the end, NBC went with the sure bet, dumped Conan who took off with his payoff and a new show at TBS. Meanwhile, other late night shows aimed at the younger demos are splitting viewers every which way – Jon Stewart, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. They all understand the natural convergence of new media with old. They tweet, they post on Facebook, they have Internet followings as large as their live broadcast audiences.
This book is obviously the bookend to his first book chronicling the last major disruption in late night in the early 90s. I get the feeling that he sees this as his last deep dive into the (formerly) very profitable, (less every day) relevant, and (no one watches TV anymore) traditional institution of The Tonight Show. In fact, he includes direct quotes from Seinfeld who, when asked whether Conan should stay, but at the proposed midnight time slot following a half hour Leno show, he answered that he was ‘silly’ to leave. “The Tonight Show isn’t an institution; it’s a television show like any other. Ratings rule in the end.”
Coming from the man who appeared on Carson’s Tonight Show 20+ times, and became a multi-millionaire with a show about nothing, Bill Carter seems to be telling us that late night television, though always being time slot that can be profitable, will not endure for another 40 years of cultural dominance.
I recommend this book for anyone who loves to know how show business works behind the scenes.
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