Late Night TV: 2007 State of the ‘Late’ Report
March 2, 2007 
Back in September, I decided to take a look at the state of late night comedy talk shows in a post appropriately called A look at Late Night Programming.
Several months later, I thought I’d update you with something I’m calling CityCynic.com’s Late Night TV: 2007 State of the ‘Late’ Report:
The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
Debuted: August 30, 1993 (13 years, 7 months)
Airs: weeknights, 11:35 pm EST
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS)
Debuted: January 4, 2005 (2 years, 2 months)
Airs: weeknights, 12:35 am EST
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC)
Debuted: May 25, 1992 (14 years, 10 months)
Airs: weeknights, 11:35 pm EST
Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC)
Debuted: September 13, 1993 (13 years, 6 months)
Airs: weeknights, 12:35 am EST
Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC)
Debuted: January 8, 2002 (5 years, 2 months)
Airs: weeknights, 1:35 am EST
Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
Debuted: January 26, 2003 (4 years, 2 months)
Airs: weeknights, 12:05 am EST
Talk Show with Spike Feresten (FOX)
Debuted: September 16, 2006 (6 months)
Airs: Saturdays, midnight EST
And in coming years, this is the forecast of the future of late night:
*The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien is set to debut sometime in 2009, when Jay Leno is expected to step down. But apparently, Leno doesn’t want to go. If NBC decides to stick with Leno and ignore their contract with Conan, then they’ll have to cough up about $40 million to O’Brien for defaulting. ABC and FOX have been said to be interested in scooping up Leno in 2009 for their own late night projects.
*If ABC were to snag Leno, he would likely demand the 11:35 pm EST timeslot, which would mean pushing out long-running news show Nightline and forcing Jimmy Kimmel Live from 12:05 am to 12:35 am. Since ABC only controls national programming until 1:00 am, this would require restructuring between the network and local stations and thus would be highly unlikely. Kimmel is contracted with ABC beyond 2009 and the network has shown faith in him, saying he will be given the chance to earn the earlier timeslot. So getting Leno essentially would mean getting rid of Kimmel.
*Another scenario for ABC would involve enticing Jon Stewart from Comedy Central and The Daily Show into a half-hour late night show at 11:35 pm EST, with Kimmel following. This is also very unlikely because although Stewart would like to move up from basic cable to a network, he is said he to be after CBS’ Late Show seat.
*If FOX were to hire Leno in 2009, they could run a show anytime after the 10:00 pm newscast ends, marking their first weeknight return to late night comedy since The Magic Hour — Magic Johnson’s 8-week talk show run in 1998.
*Last year CBS extended David Letterman’s contract through 2010 and Letterman hasn’t made any mention of retiring.
*If Conan O’Brien does take over The Tonight Show as planned, NBC would have to either find a new host for Late Night or move Last Call with Carson Daly up to 12:35 pm EST, which would likely mean extending it to a full hour. That would also bring up the question of what the network would do with the 1:35 pm EST spot Last Call currently holds. How about a return of Later with Bob Costas?
*CBS has a contract with Craig Ferguson through the 2011 season, so he will likely be hosting The Late Late Show until then.
There, now you’re up to date. Now go back to watching and laughing… and we’ll see what happens in 2009.
