NBC confirms abandoning Jay Leno prime time show

[Guest guest]

Good. Pity they don't take him off the air permanently.

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http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100110/entertainment/centertainment_us_leno_3\

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NBC confirms abandoning Jay Leno prime time show

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Sun Jan 10, 2:13 PM

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC said on Sunday that it was abandoning its

cost-cutting prime time experiment with talk show host Jay Leno, and was " going

back to basics. "

NBC Universal television entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin told television

reporters that starting Feb .12, " The Jay Leno Show " would no longer air in its

10 p.m. slot.

" I can confirm that starting February 12, Jay Leno will no longer air at 10

p.m., " Gaspin said.

Gaspin said General Electric Co's NBC was in talks with Leno, and its other late

night show hosts Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon about moving all their current

shows to a later hour.

Gaspin said NBC had come under pressure from its local affiliates who complained

audiences had dropped for their lucrative late news broadcasts because of the

poor audiences for " The Jay Leno Show. "

NBC, which is struggling in bottom place among the four leading networks, made

the unprecedented move in September 2009 to replace traditional and costly drama

at 10 p.m. with " The Jay Leno Show, " which was cheaper to produce.

It was not immediately clear what shows NBC would run at 10 p.m. in place of

Leno.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Maler)