Are there characteristics that are common to good and bad decisions?
A. There are some common ones, but it’s not as simple as saying there’s a single formula for making all decisions. Q. What went wrong in NBC’s decision to move Jay Leno to a prime-time slot? A. The cost of producing television programs had skyrocketed, and in a typical hour slot, they had a hard time making money. What NBC did with Jay Leno was fascinating. It was a lot cheaper than drama. It cost NBC $300,000 per hour, whereas a drama would have cost $3 million per hour. Even if viewership dropped, they would still make money. Leno’s contract was up and he was going to go to another network potentially. It would have been a bigger fiasco if he went to a different network and was up against Conan O’Brien. But what they didn’t consider was the impact it would have on affiliate stations that do the nightly news. Viewers don’t change the channel after the drama at 10. They stay to see the news. With the Leno show dropping in viewership, they had fewer people watching the affiliate news. T
