First, I applaud NBC for trying something new but this is a classic case of making sure everyone buys into it before you go there. NBC says the show has met their expectations but the affiliates aren’t happy with the results. It appears that NBC did not go deep enough with their affiliates in making sure everyone was totally on board with the plan and what the expectations were. And how many times has that happened to us in radio!

Second, this is a classic case of not understanding the audience and trying to force something on them that they did not embrace. NBC did not serve their P1s, their core audience that was watching the Tonight Show or Prime Time. Leno’s audience did not like Conan and Leno’s appeal was not strong enough to lock in prime time numbers that NBC affiliates wanted. We all need to try new ideas and continue the creative process but when you have a substantial audience base you have to understand why they are there along with what they expect and what they want. There are an abundance of options for an audience if you alienate them. In this case NBC may still be able to salvage it with the late night changes they are talking about but how much have they lost because they did not do their initial homework! Fire, ready, aim almost never works!