NEW YORK — Jay Leno, the King of Late Night, will be changing the way people view prime time.
The deal NBC struck with the “Tonight Show” host, made official Tuesday, alters prime time as we’ve known it since the days of “I Love Lucy,” and even before.
The news that Leno’s talk-variety show would air at 10 p.m. EST — offering his audience the chance to catch his monologue 90 minutes earlier and not miss any sleep — caught viewers and the TV industry by surprise.
It also answered a long-simmering question: What will Leno do after May 29, his final appearance as host of “The Tonight Show” before turning it over to Conan O’Brien?
But it raised more questions than it answered. Among them: Will enough viewers choose a transplanted Leno over traditional scripted prime-time fare? Is this the first step in prime-time drama being pushed aside for cheaper-to-produce nightly talk? Does this leave cable networks as the go-to source for innovative scripted series? And, is Leno really the best NBC’s got for the 10 p.m. slot?
“The planets aligned perfectly,” said NBC Entertainment co-chairman Marc Graboff during Tuesday’s announcement. “We would not have done this with anybody but Jay Leno.”
Co-chair Ben Silverman hailed the “immediacy” of Leno’s upcoming show and how its topicality will set it apart from network competition.
“It’s a ‘killer app’ because you want to watch it that night,” said Silverman, meaning, “It’s totally DVR-proof.”
About 50 percent more people watch TV at 10 p.m. than at 11:30 p.m.
