{"id":17922,"date":"2014-02-07T05:40:44","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T10:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=17922"},"modified":"2014-02-06T20:42:42","modified_gmt":"2014-02-07T01:42:42","slug":"leno-kicked-out-while-hes-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2014\/02\/leno-kicked-out-while-hes-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Leno kicked out while he’s ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Jay Leno is off the Tonight Show<\/em> as of last night.\u00a0 NBC wants to hand off the iconic gig to someone of the younger generation, namely, Jimmy Fallon.\u00a0 Never mind that Leno is going out at #1 in his time slot.\u00a0 Never mind that Leno is #1 with the younger generation (the 18-49 demographic) that NBC is trying to attract with Fallon.<\/p>\n

But ratings are not everything in the television industry.\u00a0 Nor, despite economic theory, are profits everything in the corporate world.\u00a0 Those who run the entertainment industry and America\u2019s other businesses want the approval of their peers, feel cultural pressure, and yearn to be cool.\u00a0 Those things can be more motivating than money and success.<\/p>\n

From Lisa de Moraes,\u00a0 Jay Leno\u2019s \u2018Tonight Show\u2019 Exit: Carefully Orchestrated Do-Over \u2013 Deadline.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

On Thursday night, Jay Leno once again will hand over The Tonight Show to NBC\u2019s younger-better idea \u2013 this time it\u2019s his lead-out, Jimmy Fallon.<\/p>\n

Most of the coverage has been about Leno taking with him a commanding ratings lead in late-night, not only among total viewers but also in the 18-49 age bracket advertisers covet. And in the days leading up to his exit, The Reporters Who Cover Television dusted off think pieces about Leno leaving the show in the wake of a demographic shift affecting millions of baby boomers who are being pushed aside to make way for a younger generation with different sensibilities. In many ways, Leno\u2019s handoff to Fallon does mirror the first time the press wrote those think pieces, when NBC replaced Leno withJay Leno NBC his lead-out, Conan O\u2019Brien in 2009 \u2013 a plan that famously flamed out over seven months.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jay Leno is off the Tonight Show as of last night.\u00a0 NBC wants to hand off the iconic gig to someone of the younger generation, namely, Jimmy Fallon.\u00a0 Never mind that Leno is going out at #1 in his time slot.\u00a0 Never mind that Leno is #1 with the younger generation (the 18-49 demographic) that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,45],"tags":[2800,1154,3004,3003],"class_list":["post-17922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-economics","category-television","tag-corporate-culture","tag-jay-leno","tag-television-industry","tag-tonight-show"],"yoast_head":"\nLeno kicked out while he's ahead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jay Leno is off the Tonight Show as of last night.\u00a0 NBC wants to hand off the iconic gig to someone of the younger 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