NBC Affiliates Pumped for 'Battle of the Jimmys'

Stations salute Jay Leno as hardest working guy in entertainment, but look forward to younger, and more, viewers

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/3/2013 5:07:46 PM

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The NBC affiliate community greeted NBC's official announcement on its Tonight Show succession plans with good feelings for both the outgoing and incoming hosts. Current one Jay Leno has always been popular with affiliates -- meeting many local managers face to face, and consistently delivering strong late-night ratings. But many affiliates believe his successor, Jimmy Fallon, can build on Leno's body of work -- and fend off a mounting challenge from Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC.

"I believe Jimmy will be able to retain Jay's viewers, and bring his own audience to the time period," says John Dawson, vice president/general manager at KSNW Wichita. "His humor is compatible enough to retain an audience, and he brings his own unique viewers in too. It sets up the Battle of the Jimmys, and I think [Fallon] will win."

Affiliates were concerned that NBC would wait too long to implement a succession plan, giving Kimmel more time to build an audience at 11:30 p.m. ET. NBC announced April 3 that Fallon, currently hosting at Late Night at 12:35 a.m. ET, will slide into Leno's Tonight Show role in the spring of 2014.

Jordan Wertlieb, NBC affiliates board chairman, called Fallon's promotion a "very smart" move for the network, and also saluted the show's shift to New York and Lorne Michaels taking on an executive producer role. "It reinvigorates the brand in a very exciting way," he says.

NBC famously botched a Leno-to-Conan transition in 2009, but the affiliates voice big confidence that the network, with a different set of execs in charge, will pull it off this time.

"I believe it will be seamless," says Ken Freedman, vice president/general manager at KWQC Davenport (Iowa). "I don't think we'll miss a beat. If anything, I think we'll get younger."

Leno's brand of comedy is broad, while Fallon's is more quirky. While Fallon's youthful personal and robust social media activity make for a younger, perhaps more urbane viewer, the affiliates seem to believe the former Saturday Night Live funnyman will play in the heartland. "He's got high enough visibility on so many platforms," says Freedman. "I think he'll be accepted in Middle America."
Wertlieb believes ratings comparisons between the two, at least at the beginning of Fallon's run, are unfair, but called Fallon a "great, great talent."

Of course, moving Fallon up to 11:30 opens up his seat at 12:35 a.m., and the network has not announced its plans for that program. One name that has surfaces is SNL head writer/performer Seth Meyers. Wertlieb says NBC has not revealed its thoughts on the matter, which is likely to come up when the affiliates board meets in Las Vegas next week.

"We're not concerned, but we would like to know who will be there," says Kym Grinnage, vice president and general manager at WWBT Richmond.

Leno will always be a popular figure among NBC's station partners; multiple GMs invoke the "hardest working man in show business" axiom when describing Leno. Wertlieb calls him "an incredible professional who did fantastic work on behalf of the network and the affiliates."

Dawson adds that Leno, whose plans beyond his Tonight departure are in flux, will always be viewed as a friend of NBC's station partners across the country. "He will be missed, no doubt about that," he says. "But it's great to see him go out on top."

But the affiliates are also excited to see how Fallon does on a larger stage. "Fallon is funny -- I couldn't be happier," says Jack Dempsey, VP/GM at WCYB in the Tri-Cities (Va.-Tenn.) DMA. "I believe this time they got it right."