Department of Ideas: Put The Tonight Show Online

by Brian Reich | 23 Jan 2010, 4:17pm

I have an idea: Conan O’Brien should put the Tonight Show online.

Last night was Conan O’Brien’s last night as the host of the Tonight Show on NBC.  His next show should be online.  David Letterman, Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Fallon should also be putting their shows up online, instead of on TV (note: I didn’t say Jimmy Kimmel, because I don’t think he’s funny, and I don’t think Carson Daly would be a good host no matter what platform you found him on).

I am obviously not the first person to suggest this.  But unlike most of those who are speculating about what Conan O’Brien great adventures online might look like if they were put online, I don’t want Conan (or any other late night hosts) to change anything.  The format of the show works.  The monologues are still funny. The skits are appropriately awkward. The celebrity and musical guests remain a solid reason to watch.  The bands play great music. The big, glossy set and a live studio audience tie the whole experience together.

What doesn’t work is the fact that the shows air on TV — which most people aren’t using as their primary source of entertainment any longer.  What doesn’t work is that the shows have a set time slot, after late local news that nobody wants to stay up and watch because its worthless, mind-numbing drivel.  What doesn’t work is that the brands who buy advertising don’t understand the show or the audience and don’t produce ads that keep you from wanting to change the channel (because they make their choices based on demographic information and their deals with the network brass).  What doesn’t work is that the people who run television networks see the Tonight Show, and all the others like it, as just another piece of their nightly schedule - a line in the TV guide — and not the unique, entertaining, and socially important programming that it has become.

The Tonight Show will be successful, with Conan O’Brien as the host, if it was distributed online.  It will work because the audience that wants to watch, myself included, is more likely to sit in front of their computer screen or stream it on their iPhone then turn on their TV at that hour.  It will work because the costs of distribution online are much lower than on television, so more time could be spent focusing on entertainment — which will keep viewers engaged — and less going to breaks to watch bad commercials.  It will work because online advertising can be more interactive and creative than TV ads — and because the online ads that support the show could be targeted, and delivered, only to audiences who care most about certain products or brands - which means they’ll generate more revenue to support what the show wants to do.  It will work because Conan O’Brien will be able to tell jokes and talk about subjects (or to guests) that might not translate well, or that wouldn’t be allowed on TV (i.e. a couple of f-bombs each night). It will work because information about the show’s best moments will spread online, in real-time, which will allow larger and more loyal audiences to build.  It will work because a Tonight Show that is distributed online will the flexibility and the freedom to create the kinds of great content that we all want, but clearly can’t be done on TV.

There are some reasons why it wouldn’t.  It wouldn’t work if it was treated like a television show that is simply put up online — like most shows that you see today.  Everything inside the cameras can be done exactly the same, you don’t have to muck with a good thing.  However, because the online environment where people go to watch is different, the audience’s ability to interact with a show and get additional information, provide feedback and similar is even more important.  Whatever you put around the show online would need to be tailored to match the behaviors of people in today’s hyper-connected society.  It also wouldn’t work if unnecessary restrictions on the way the show was done were imposed.  The internet is free of the kinds of limitations that exist in other mediums. Nobody quite knows what will work or not.  But we know that good, funny content will always find a loyal - and viral - audience.  Allowing Conan O’Brien and his team to be funny will work, and work better online than anywhere else — but you have to let them do their thing.

Everything we know about how people get and share information, what we are willing to watch, and why people tune in for certain shows or log on to get certain information is changing.  The reasons that Conan O’Brien has an opportunity to put The Tonight Show online has more to do with NBC’s inability, or unwillingness, to change how they operate to respond to the massive shifts that our society is undergoing as a result of the impact of technology and the internet on our lives.  Its their fault, not his.  Its NBC’s responsibility to put the tonight show in a position to succeed, not the Tonight Show’s job to adapt its show to meet outdated demands of the broadcast TV world.  It wasn’t because Conan isn’t funny - he is.  It wasn’t because the Tonight Show brand didn’t fit with Conan’s style or brand of comedy - Conan O’Brien, as host, was the Tonight Show brand as we now know it. It wasn’t because the internet is killing TV.  Conan O’Brien has an opportunity to put The Tonight Show online and change the way we think about ‘television’ programming forever, because its (long past) time that we started to do some things differently in terms of late night talk shows.

Its simple: Conan O’Brien should put the Tonight Show online.

Its just an idea…

TAGS : Department of Ideas