Ross Lincoln is a Deadline contributor.
NBC may be publicly tightlipped on the matter of The Tonight Show succession, but that hasn’t stopped New York lawmakers from stepping into the fray. In the event that Late Night host Jimmy Fallon takes over for Jay Leno and wants to stay in New York, as is widely anticipated, that would mean relocating The Tonight Show from its current digs in
Burbank. And the New York state Legislature is dangling a major tax break in front of NBC with the hope of bringing that to pass, the New York Daily News reports. Fallon’s current studio already is being renovated as part of a planned refurbishing of 30 Rock, according to sources. Now it turns out that a provision of the proposed state budget would expand the state’s film production tax credit to include TV shows, and the budget’s language is unmistakably written with The Tonight Show in mind. “A talk or variety program that filmed at least five seasons outside the state prior to its first relocated season in New York,” with a yearly budget in excess of $30 million and a studio audience of at least 200 people would be eligible for the tax credit, which reimburses up to 30% of the production’s cost. The proposed budget would also extend the tax credit in that form through 2019.


How many LA/Burbank jobs (direct & indirect) would be lost in this move?
If the unfunny Fallon gets the Tonight show, his spot would be left open. Maybe they will fill it with a new show set in LA, so maybe none. Unless they give Chelsea the spot, then we’re back in square 1.
More than you’d probably want to think about, but I’m blindly wagering that the new 12:30 show would be located in California, so maybe that’d help the situation out.
The 12:30 slot at NBC is controlled by Lorne Michaels. Lorne’s now a New Yorker, after stints as a Canadian and a Chateau Marmont guy. By getting Fallon the Tonight Show, Michaels will choose the 1230 person if a show is offered. And it will be in New York, at 30 Rock.
Maybe as many as will be gained in New York. What’s your point?
Some New Yorkers hate L.A. so much, that they would bankrupt their state’s government to move jobs from L.A. to New York. Notice I said move jobs, not create jobs. There is nothing altruistic in this maneuver. Move job to New York? Hurt L.A. at the same time? Sign us up!!
Conan’s show moved from NYC to L.A. Shut up.
Yes, then they were all unceremoniously fired several months later, holding their new, California-priced, mortgages and rental agreements in their hands.
We don’t hate L.A. We just hate the people who live there.
Fallon over Leno in itself is a joke
Oooh damn, they should call you Sherry Snark!
Can NBC really be this stupid? Moving the Tonight Show to New York and have both shows compete for the same Hollywood stars when they are visiting New York? I know some of the guest will be from New York – but whoever has the 11:30 show in LA has a big advantage – – particularly with the 11:30 audience being older and more conservative that the late-late night demographics. So if NBC does this – I predict either FOX or CBS – or both – will step in with an LA-based show – and walk-off with all the marbles.
Conan is in Burbank, and Arsenio will be in LA as well, so for guests with something to plug who have to fly to either coast, nothing will change. In NYC, they do Dave, Fallon, Kelly & Michael, The View, etc. In LA they do Kimmel, Ferguson, Ellen, The Talk, etc.
Nothing will change.
CBS already has an LA-based show on at 12:35. It’s called The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. They can’t put an LA-based show on at 11:35 without firing Letterman, which isn’t going to happen. So, Kimmel and Ferguson will pick up more A-listers.
The Tonight Show should’ve never left NY, so I’m in favor. But why all this allegiance to a dusty brand name, if the whole point is to attract a younger audience? Just move Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to the earlier slot and be done with it. If that’s not the point, then leave Jay Leno where he is, since his numbers still beat everybody else’s.
Yeah, California lawmakers, let’s see what you’ve got!
Hollywood is leaving southern California, bit by bit, and you don’t think incentives are working… you barely approved a 2 year extension.
Funny how they don’t want to give incentives in California because they don’t want the big corporations to benefit, corporations like Universal. But in New York they’ll rush laws through for NBC… Wait… isn’t it the same company?
There’s simply going to be a changing of the guards (locations), so-to-speak. Is everyone so blind that they cannot see what the future is?
Current model:
NBC – The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Los Angeles)
NBC – Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (New York)
CBS – Late Show with David Letterman (New York)
CBS – The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (Los Angeles)
ABC – Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Los Angeles)
Future model:
NBC – The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (New York)
NBC – Late Night with ? (Los Angeles)
CBS – Late Show with Craig Ferguson (Los Angeles)
CBC – The Late Late Show with ? (New York)
ABC – Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Los Angeles)
Syndication – Arsenio (Los Angeles)
With Leno gone, I can see Letterman finally retiring. And my understanding is that Craig Ferguson will take over Late Show once Letterman leaves. I may be completely wrong about this, but I thought that this was something that was signed and sealed. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong; the last thing I want to be doing is starting rumors.
What makes you think someone isn’t going to hire Leno after NBC gives him the boot? Fox has been itching to find the right late night host. Why not go with the highest-rated one today?
After seeing the diminshing returns TBS is getting from giving Conan a place to land, I don’t think Fox will be so quick to enter the race, especially since it’s their affiliates who said no the last time. They’re making more money (and getting better 18-49 numbers) off of sitcom reruns.
Because Fox knows the last thing you want in that time period is a 4th talk show plus Jay doesn’t fit their demographics at all.
I definitely don’t think that Ferguson is a “done deal” for replacing Letterman. He’s quirky, sometimes funny, but very much an acquired taste. His show is a much better fit for 12:30 than 11:30 IMO.
Actually the future model would look like this:
NBC – The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, New York (90 Minutes)
NBC – The 12:35 News with Lester Holt, New York
CBS – Late Show with David Letterman, New York
CBC – The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Los Angeles
ABC – Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Los Angeles
TBS – Conan, Los Angeles
FOX – The Late Night Show with Jay Leno, Los Angeles
Syndication – Arsenio Hall, Los Angeles
The simple reason for this revising is because David Letterman isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Also, news reports state that the Fallon Tonight Show would be 90 minutes, and there is talk of Jay Leno going to FOX.
Someone persuade NBC to go ahead with the move of Fallon (in New York) to The Tonight Show, and at the same time keeping Leno (in Burbank) to Late Night. Same hosts doing the same shows in the same locations, the only shift is title and time slot. For Fallon it’s a promotion, for Leno it’s a way to keep doing his show and his daily routine for a while longer. It would be epic fail, but I would no doubt watch that train wreck for about six months…
We are not that dumb. We are moving Jay to 8 pm seven nights a week. Jay will be our leading man and we will use Jay to boost the rest of our schedule every single night. We’re always thinking here at NBC.
Are they really going to try this again, wasn’t the sinking numbers of Conan at 11:35pm enough? He started strong then sank. NBC should realize young people don’t watch television in great numbers at 11:35pm, old people do, they need to get off of it and move on. NBC has to be the stupidest network of the big 3, they keep banging their head against the wall, with the same results.
But it is funny to watch them, a soap opera in itself, has been for years.
While I agree with you lsb, the one thing that nobody seems to remember is that all throughout this entire Tonight Show ordeal that has been ongoing since 1991, all the players are different accept for one. Warren Littlefield and Brandon Tartikoff at the start of at all. Jeff Zucker during the Conan debacle. Now it’s Robert Greenbalt. How is it possible that this single issue of Jay Leno and the Tonight Show keeps coming up over and over again, yet all the players are different each time? It must be the f*cking peacock making all these final decisions and messing sh*t up. How else can anyone explain it. Surely someone must be able to take control of this situation and fix it by now.
The fact is, Leno has gotten that network so tightly wrapped around his finger, that the only way to get rid of him is to pay him to go away. And the way things are going, it’s looking more and more likely that this will be the way Leno is going to go. If Greenblat is smart, take the financial hit and get rid of him before he continues to do more damage to the legacy of the Tonight Show and NBC. Because Leno sure as hell ain’t going to shut up unless he’s absolutely made to shut up contractually, along with a nice big $120 million dollar check.
Ed they would only have to pay Jay $25 million or less to go away early. He’s earning $15 million a year now and he has 18 months left. Greenblatt could write Jay a check for $20 million to leave six months from now. If they want Fallon they should move him to 11:35 in September and stop playing games since we are now hearing two different strategies. 1) “oh we could ease Jimmy into the slot during the winter Olympics in February” and others saying 2) “oh no that’s too soon we have to give Jimmy time to get better for 11:35″ it’s ridiculous.
The truth is they know Fallon won’t be any good at 11:35 but they don’t have any other options. Kimmel is funnier and he already has the young demo. NBC should have stuck with Conan and they should have let Jay go to ABC. Jeff Zucker was a disaster for NBC he literally cost the network 2 to 3 Billion in lost revenue and he left nothing but wreckage and destruction when he left.
Actually, that’s the definition of insanity, not stupidity.
Bring the Tonight show back home! Be a nice win for Gotham. Love that our elected officials are smart enough to support this. And we all know Jimmy will be happier and funnier in Manhattan.
Fallon, as we remember, is –sometimes– somewhat GENUINELY funny.
And moving to New York could only be an improvement.
Still, we won’t be having the mind control, debasement op, and surveillance
device TV in our home ever again.
—Others though, might take heart.
What I find baffling is that with all the problems NBC is having (prime time, Today show, etc.) why waste the time and energy on making a change in the part of your schedule that is actually working? I know people think it’s chic to jump on the anti-Leno band wagon but the reality is his show is succesful and has been succesful for many years. And whatever your feelings are about Leno, it’s successful for a reason. Why mess with that?
You would think NBC already has their hands full with record low ratings in primetime and sinking ratings at the Today show that executives would want to leave the one area that is actually working alone. And fix what needs fixing first.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Comcast concentrates a lot on the East Coast and the New York incentives are obviously going to help new production as well as shows already on the air like “Smash.” (90 minutes right up the N.J. Turnpike, even less on Amtrak.) If it’s going to be Fallon starting in New York is a good idea. Not to belabor the Carson comparison but he started in NY and then moved to L.A. You eventually make the switch, you get a bump when you do, you develop the host all at the same time. In my opinion that was part of Conan’s problem. Jarring, abruptly, it seemed like his old show was suddenly on over-produced Hollywood steroids. TBS has course corrected the scale issues quite well I think. Better the ability to showcase that Conan can indeed do it all.
To all you Angelenos crying about productions fleeing Los Angeles… There were no tears shed from the left coast when the Tonight Show split New York during the city’s worst times. Well now the playing field is even. Movie stars live in New York. Welcome to the real world.
Enough with this NY v LA argument – it is stupid, ignorant, and childish (which accurately describes most of the site’s comments).
LA will lose jobs, while NY will NOT GAIN any jobs. Those commenters mentioning the moving of jobs is exactly correct.
This TAX INCENTIVE plan is the BIGGEST EXAMPLE OF CORPORATE WELFARE. NY needs more tax revenue, not less. We are in a fiscal crisis.
Shame on the NYS Legislature – this is coming from a New Yorker by the way.
NBC would have more to gain with Jimmy moving to CA. Why? he’d be a New Yorker bringing material from his NY experiences AND will have endless material from living out here as he experiences his new world of L.A.; trust me, coming from NY my friends & family still find things the USA is, and would be interested in. Jimmy, ya gotta move here. It’s a very interesting, unusual place to live. LOL.
This deal will also benefit America’s Got Talent.
But I thought America’s Got Talent shot it’s last season in NJ, not NY. How is that going to help AGT??
New York has to give the Tonight Show a massive tax break to move operations. Rather pitiful for the “da centah of da universe” if you ask me.