Should Conan OBrien Leave Sinking Ship NBC?
Back in 2004, when NBC promised Conan O’Brien that he’d get to host ‘The Tonight Show’ in five years, the gig looked like a career-crowning achievement. Today, however, it looks more like an albatross. O’Brien has the dubious honor of hosting the flagship late-night program on NBC at a time when the network is mired in fourth place, when his own ratings have plummeted, when the desperate cheapness of the Jay-Leno-at-10PM experiment seems to be dragging down both prime time and late-night, and when what’s left of the proud Peacock network is about to be sold to a cable service provider. At least Conan’s not the captain of this Titanic; he’s more like one of the fiddlers desperately sawing away at “Nearer My God to Thee” as the vessel sinks. But then, he has no obligation to go down with the boat. Maybe, as San Francisco Chronicle TV columnist Tim Goodman suggests, it’s time for O’Brien to jump ship.Back in 2004, when NBC promised Conan O’Brien that he’d get to host ‘The Tonight Show’ in
Back in 2004, when NBC promised Conan O’Brien that he’d get to host ‘The Tonight Show’ in five years, the gig looked like a career-crowning achievement. Today, however, it looks more like an albatross. O’Brien has the dubious honor of hosting the flagship late-night program on NBC at a time when the network is mired in fourth place, when his own ratings have plummeted, when the desperate cheapness of the Jay-Leno-at-10PM experiment seems to be dragging down both prime time and late-night, and when what’s left of the proud Peacock network is about to be sold to a cable service provider. At least Conan’s not the captain of this Titanic; he’s more like one of the fiddlers desperately sawing away at “Nearer My God to Thee” as the vessel sinks. But then, he has no obligation to go down with the boat. Maybe, as San Francisco Chronicle TV columnist Tim Goodman suggests, it’s time for O’Brien to jump ship. As Goodman sees it, NBC’s death spiral will only get worse, thanks in part to the ripple
