Media Should Follow Our Habits

by Brian Reich | 14 Dec 2008, 4:15pm

NBC announced this week that Jay Leno, who retires as host of the Tonight Show in 2009, will get a new show - to be aired five nights a week at 10:00pm.  The Tonight Show, which will now be hosted by the far-funnier, far more creative Conan O’Brien, will still air at 11:35pm.

NBC offered Leno a new gig, in this time slot, for financial reasons: the cost to produce Leno’s show five nights per week if far less than the cost to air a full season of an hour-long drama (production costs for an hour-long show run between $3 million and $5 million per episode; by comparison, Leno earns $30 million per year and his show has very low production costs).

Still, today’s New York Times Week In Review section suggests there might be another good reason NBC is mixing things up.  Charles McGrath, quoting Leno, writes “People go to bed earlier now; 10:30 is like 11:30 used to be.”

As a parent of a 1-year old, with a full-time job and a host of other responsibilities, that is so true.  As much as I want to stay up for the late night shows (though for the record, I would watch Letterman), its not practical.  If, or when, I do stay up late, I regret it the next day.  So instead, I TiVo my favorite late night shows and watch them when I want.

I would like to think the TV industry has been looking for ways to suit my needs and interests.  But its not true.  Aside from making a little bit more content available online — which they did almost against their will — they have done little to make it possible for me to watch good television when and where I would like.  They air whatever will generate the most money, and do it when they think they can get me to watch.  They are clinging to the same old broadcast model as before, hoping I will adjust my schedule so I can tune in.  That is simply not going to happen.

The worst offender of this, as long as we are on the topic, is football.  Both the Sunday Night Football broadcast on NBC and the Monday Night Football broadcast on ESPN don’t begin (or kick off at least) until well after 8:00pm.  The World Series, which takes place each fall, isn’t any better.  The games don’t end until after midnight.  I love sports, and I want to watch these games, but I simply can’t make it past halftime (or in the case of baseball, maybe the 5th inning - when it begins to get really tense) and expect to be coherent the next day.

My point is this: I am the audience, and if the networks want me to watch (and the advertisers want me to see their ads) they have to understand, and respect, my behavior.  Part of that is scheduling, and part of that is programming.  Jay Leno’s new show satisfies neither - he’s not funny (in my opinion), his show isn’t compelling, and its barely worth staying up for even if it starts at 10:00pm.  But he’s just the latest example of the television industry compromising great programming in favor of cheap programming.  As McGrath notes, “What’s thriving on TV these days, spreading all over the schedule and seemingly seeping into every hour not already occupied by a certified hit, is reality programming of one sort or another: talk shows; news shows, or pseudo-news shoes; singing, dancing and weight-losing contests.”

I love television and I watch a lot of it.  But the shows I am devoted to now, and watch religiously, are those that have great storylines and high-drama (some written, some reality) and air when I can watch them, which means on TiVo.  Everything else, including football games, will have to be watched by someone else in real time.

Television has a future, a bright one, but it still has a long way to go before it realizes it.  It might start by looking at how I spend my time, and what I want, and then programming accordingly.  Just a thought.

TAGS : football Leno NBC television
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