“The War for Late Night” reveals Disney’s role in the Leno / O’Brien debacle

Jim Hill

15 years ago

It's now considered one of the great PR disasters of 2010. The way that NBC totally mismanaged its Jay Leno / Conan O'Brien situation. Which ultimately resulted in Conan bolting for TBS, a significantly battered & bruised Jay resuming his duties as host of "The Tonight Show" in March, and Jeff Zucker – the president and CEO of NBC Universal – announcing that he would step down as head of the Peacock Network once Comcast completes its takeover of NBC.

But as it turns out, Mickey had a hand in all this mayhem. As Bill Carter reveals in his excellent new book, "The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy" (Viking Adult, November 2010), it was ABC that actually got the ball rolling here. When …

… In 2002 ABC's entertainment division had pulled an end run around the news division, secretly seeking to replace Nightline by courting (David) Letterman with promises and birthday cakes as the CBS late-night star's contract neared an end. The talks had gotten serious by the time The New York Times broke the story of the negotiations, and the news division, poleaxed, released an anguished cry of betrayal. Although ABC didn't back off, Letterman soon did, thanking ABC for its interest but resigning with CBS after some timely last-minute concessions by that network's boss, Leslie Moonves.

Now jump ahead to 2004. After ABC had actually finally gotten into the late night talk show game by giving comedian Jimmy Kimmel a post-"Nightline" talk show. Which is when executives at the Alphabet Network learned that Conan O'Brien could potentially be up for grabs in 2005. Which is when Jeff Ross, executive producer of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" was asked to go to lunch with Andrea Wong, an executive who was in charge of reality shows and late night for ABC.

[Jeff, who was one of Conan's closest advisers] were unsure how serious this initial ABC approach really might be until, soon after meeting with Wong, Ross got a call from Bob Iger, then number two at ABC's parent, the Disney Company (and previously an ABC executive, including president of entertainment). Jeff knew Iger a bit from socializing in New York in earlier days, so they were comfortable with each other. Iger's message was simple and direct: "This is for real."

Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

Mind you, it was ABC & Fox's dogged pursuit of Conan that ultimately forced NBC to come up with some sort of deal that would placate O'Brien, that would keep Conan from signing with the competition. The arrangement that NBC execs eventually came up had Jay Leno stepping down as host of "The Tonight Show" in 2009 and O'Brien then assuming control of this late night institution.

And – on paper, anyway – this idea made great business sense. Leno's audience had begun to grey. So – by replacing Jay with Conan in 2009 – this would then virtually guarantee that "The Tonight Show" inherited the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" 's younger, hipper audience. Which was a far more desirable demographic, at least as far as NBC's advertisers were concerned.

But what this network's executives hadn't counted on was – by the time 2008 rolled around – Jay would still be going strong. What's more, given his famous workhorse work ethic, Leno was actively looking for yet another gig in the late night arena which he could then transition to once his days as host of "The Tonight Show" were over. Which is where ABC entered the equation again.

Jay Leno interviews Miley Cyrus during her 2008 appearance on "The Tonight
Show." Copyright NBC Universal. All rights reserved

As Carter explains, while …

ABC still had its Nightline issue, but the network shown its hand in 2002 when it chased Letterman. For the right talent the 11:35 hour would be offered up, no matter how loudly the news division might howl at the moon (and the press). Leno was clearly the right talent. It went beyond a no-brainer, the Disney shareholders would have a right to sue them for malfeasance. Bob Iger, who had been named chief executive of Disney in 2005, personally took charge of supervising the Leno courtship, with help from Anne Sweeney, the top ABC corporate executive, and Steven McPherson, the head of entertainment.

And then NBC got wind of ABC's overtures to Jay. Which concerned these network executives so much that they commissioned surveys to determine what impact (if any) a late-night-with-Jay-on-ABC show might have on a "Tonight Show" that now had Conan O'Brien as its host. And the news was not good:

Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal
Copyright NBC Universal. All rights reserved

By almost every external evaluation in 2008, a Jay Leno at ABC figured to more than dent NBC; it looked like he would T-bone them like one of his Duesenbergs ramming a Mini Cooper.

NBC's own research department had come up with much the same results. At ABC, Jay would do very well, and probably win.

If Jay (took) up residence at ABC … money would surely follow him. Zucker had already received estimates from (his) network's research and sales department of what a Jay-at-ABC outcome would mean: NBC would take a monetary pasting.

And Zucker just couldn't stand for that. Which is why – in the Spring of 2008 – Jeff flew out to LA and then pitched Jay on his "Leno at 10 p.m." idea. Which – as it turns out – wasn't even all that new an idea.

As Carter recounts in "The War for Late Night" :

What Zucker meant to propose that spring was actually a relic from his trunkful of unused notions. As early as 2002 Zucker had stood on the sidelines of Letterman's negotiations for a new contract, looking for an opportunity to spring if Dave showed the slightest sign of being willing to bolt CBS. When he did, with ABC entering the picture, Zucker leapt into back-channel action and logged in a call to Rob Burnett at Letterman's shop.

Zucker pitched an intriguing concept for Dave to NBC – only not in late night. What Zucker proposed for Dave was an hour each night in prime time, at eight p.m. (except for Thursday, because in 2002, NBC still had the hit Friends there). The plan had several beautiful angles for Zucker. Besides removing Letterman at a late-night competitor, it would address what had become one of Zucker's bêtes noires since taking over the entertainment side of NBC, the network's chronic issue with finding eight p.m. shows. Friends, he had to admit, had little life left, and after that it was a lot of questions for NBC at eight.

Mind you, Jay had no idea that Jeff's "Leno at 10 p.m." concept was actually just a recycling of Zucker's failed "Letterman at 8 p.m." idea. Staying with the Peacock Network appealed to Leno. Which is why – even though ABC had already cleared the way for Jay at 11:35 (which involved cancelling Nightline outright and then pushing "The Jimmy Kimmel Show" back to 12:35 p.m.) – he decided to go with this new NBC deal instead.

(So) Jay called Bob Iger at Disney … describing how deeply he had appreciated the interest, how impressed he was with ABC's proposal, and how close he had come to accepting. But in the end, NBC had come up with something that he felt he could not turn down: ten p.m. each weeknight.

Iger took the news equably: in truth, he wasn't all that disappointed. Switching networks was always a crapshoot. Maybe Jay wouldn't have provided a surefire windfall, and at least he didn't have to face an immediate confrontation with the ABC news division over Nightline.

There are all sorts of great stories just like this in "The War for Late Night." Which is why – if you're looking to learn more about what actually went on behind-the-scenes at NBC Universal earlier this year – then I urge you to pick up a copy of Bill Carter's new book. Which is a worthy follow-up to his earlier late night expose, "The Late Shift: Letterman, Leno, and the Network Battle for the Night" (Hyperion, April 1995).

But that said, I still have to wonder: Would any of this Conan-replaces-Jay-as-host-of-"The-Tonight-Show" and/or Leno-forces-O'Brien-out nonsense have ever occurred if the Mouse hadn't mucked things up for the Peacock? If Disney hadn't pursued Letterman, Leno and O'Brien in its effort to turn ABC into a real player in the late night talk show game?

Your thoughts?

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