PASADENA, CALIF. — All the turmoil over NBC's Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien folly hasn't affected KSL-Ch. 5 as much as some stations.
And there's the possibility that it might end up hurting all of NBC's affiliates again.
NBC Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin made it clear to critics that he's yanking Leno's prime-time show because of the threat of a revolt among affiliates. The weak lead-in provided by Leno cost some stations a quarter of their late-news viewers; some fell from first to third place in the ratings.
That wasn't the case in Utah, where KSL remained No. 1 during the November sweeps. It did hurt a bit — KSL was down about 5,000 homes from November 2008. But Ch. 5 had the highest ratings of any NBC station and improved on Leno's lead-in by an incredible 160 percent (from a 4.1 rating to a 10.7).
Con Psarras, KSL's vice president for news, expressed appreciation for the "appointment viewers" that "indemnify us a bit from the whims of prime-time programming."
"We have to just sink or swim on our own and make sure our product is as good as it is. And if we do that, the lead-in audience is important but not critical," Psarras said.
"If we were getting a 9 rating at 9 o'clock, what would we get at 10? I'd love to find out."
Although the albatross of "The Jay Leno Show" is being lifted from the 9 p.m. time slot, there's no indication of exactly what NBC will air as the late-news lead-in, or how well it will do.
It does, however, solve one problem for KSL. Although Leno was originally seen as a "clean" comedian, he clearly demonstrated that there was nothing he couldn't turn into a dirty joke. That same act played at 9 p.m. over the past few months.
"The content of Jay's show turned out to be better suited for late-night viewing when fewer children are in the audience," said KSL president and CEO Bob Johnson. "KSL is sensitive that it air programming consistent with the prevailing community standards in Salt Lake City and with the values of its ownership. Jay Leno at 9 p.m. was highly problematic in that respect."
O'Brien's resignation from NBC poses another problem. While he's not officially headed for Fox (as of this writing), that scenario appears likely. An O'Brien show would probably air from 10-11 p.m. in Utah, putting it in direct competition with the late local newscasts.
Even a moderately successful O'Brien show on Fox would take ratings — and revenue — away from KSL. Which would be the unintended consequence of driving O'Brien away from NBC.
KSL isn't overly concerned, however. "Our experience has been that counterprogramming to our newscasts, unless it's other news, has really not been very effective," Psarras said.
CONAN QUITS: Faced with what NBC was expecting of him, Conan O'Brien did pretty much the only thing he could. He quit.
And, assuming he does go to Fox, he'll go there as a bit of a martyr.
As he pointed out in his statement, O'Brien turned down other, more lucrative offers to stay at NBC. That network gave Leno years to get his act together; it gave O'Brien seven months.
NBC execs wanted him to stay. Essentially, they wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. That's what the "compromise" that would have put Jay Leno in from 10:35-11:05 p.m. MT, then put O'Brien on after that, is all about.
NBC clearly demonstrated how little it values O'Brien. And Leno won't step down until his corpse is cold.
Will he beat Leno if he goes to Fox? Probably not.
But like David Letterman before him, O'Brien could end up somewhere where he's appreciated. Where, even if he doesn't finish first, he will give Fox something it's never had before — a legitimate late-night presence.
NICE GUY? If O'Brien is the victim, Leno is the villain.
It remains somewhat astonishing that Leno has a reputation for being a nice guy. When the history of his TV career is written, it will be full of words like words like "ruthless" and "backstabber."
Let's review the facts:
Leno (and his surrogates) undermined Johnny Carson in an attempt to move him out so the "Tonight Show" job would be open.
Leno, whose struggling career was greatly boosted by many appearances on "Late Night with David Letterman," stabbed his friend and benefactor in the back, outmaneuvering him to succeed Carson.
After vowing that he would bow out gracefully and hand "Tonight" over to his good friend Conan O'Brien, Leno started grumbling about having to actually do that. Early in his prime-time run, Leno said in interviews he'd be happy to go back to late night.
And, finally, Jay was apparently more than happy to shove his good buddy Conan aside because he's incapable of that graceful transition.
Oh, Leno is now making some noises about how he's going to quit NBC, too. That he's being made to look like the bad guy when this is the network's bungling.
But the fact remains that Leno agreed to retire from "The Tonight Show." Then he reconsidered and threatened to bolt to ABC. NBC came up with the prime-time plan to keep him happy.
And now he's sticking it to O'Brien.
If Leno is a nice guy, I'd hate to see a guy who's not so nice.
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com