• by Wayne Friedman , April 3, 2013

NBC confirmed late-night TV's worst-kept secret: Jay Leno is leaving the "Tonight Show" and Jimmy Fallon of NBC's "Late Night" is taking his place.

The change will be made next spring -- right after NBC's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Analysts say all this is to gain the benefit of a major promotion, given the Olympics' large and diverse audience.

Steve Burke, chief executive officer of NBCUniversal, stated: “We are purposefully making this change when Jay is No 1, just as Jay replaced Johnny Carson when he was No. 1.  Jimmy Fallon is a unique talent, and this is his time."
Leno current contract actually ends in September 2014.

Analysts say NBC is looking to make the change to grab the younger profile of Fallon, who is 38. The competition for late night got stiffer this past January, when ABC shifted "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to the 11:35 p.m. time slot against "Tonight" and "Late Show with David Letterman."

Still, the median age of late-night network TV is over 50 for many late-night network TV shows. But online, and on YouTube, Fallon has younger followers -- as does Kimmel.

Gary Carr, senior vice president and executive director of national programming for TargetCast tcm, guessed that ABC's move, in part, pushed NBC. So did the environment of older late-night network hosts. "They didn't want to wait around," he said. "The other guys [Leno and Letterman] are in their mid-60s. NBC must have thought we need to get our guy in there."

Leno leaves after a 22-year run, which has been full of drama and intrigue throughout. It started when Leno replaced "Tonight" show legendary host Johnny Carson in 1992. Leno had served as Carson's permanent guest host since 1987.

David Letterman, who hosted NBC's "Late Night," was believed to be Carson's successor. After the snub, he took an offer from CBS to host "Late Show." HBO's movie "The Late Shift" in 1996 focused on these major network programming moves.

Then in September 2004, NBC announced Conan O'Brien would be taking over "Tonight" in 2009. But O'Brien's stint only lasted a few months, and Leno was back in the "Tonight" show seat in early 2010.  After six seasons at "Saturday Night Live" starting on 1998, Fallon took over for O'Brien in March 2009.

advertisement

advertisement