NBC Television Network

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 9:34am on Monday, February 8th, 2010

NBC Removes All Conan-Hosted "Tonight Show" Episodes from NBC.com, Hulu

MediaMemo reported on February 6, 2010:

"Remember the whole Conan O’Brien/Jay Leno imbroglio from last month? Perhaps NBC wishes you didn’t. The GE unit has removed every episode of the show’s seven-month run from its NBC.com site, as well as Hulu, the site NBC owns with News Corp.’s Fox and Disney’s ABC.

A little odd, given that a couple of days ago, the network was offering every single “Tonight Show” episode O’Brien had taped on NBC.com. But then again, everything about this story has been odd. NBC declined to comment.

Less surprising is news that O’Brien’s image has been scrubbed, Soviet-style, from NBC’s 30 Rock headquarters."

The full story:
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100206/conan-who-nbc-disappears-the-tonight-show-from-the-web/

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:36am on Friday, January 29th, 2010

Joan Rivers: Conan "Lucked Out," Leno Not Funny

Vanity Fair posted a video interview with Rivers on its website on January 28, 2010. The text intro reads as follows:

"Joan Rivers is no stranger to late-night-TV shakeups. In the early 80s, Rivers was often a guest host for 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.' When she left to host her own late-night program on Fox, Carson never forgave her. Fox’s 'The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers' was short-lived and widely panned, and is often mentioned in the same sentence as Chevy Chase’s disastrous wee-hours outing. She's out at Sundance for her new documentary about her life, 'A Piece of Work,' and spoke with West Coast editor Krista Smith about why Leno isn't funny and why Conan should be grateful to have been fired by NBC."

The full story:
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2010/01/video-joan-rivers-thinks-conan-lucked-out-and-leno-isnt-funny.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 9:48am on Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Comcast Chief Says He Won't Migrate NBC to Cable

Broadcasting & Cable reported on January 27, 2010:

"Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts says any thought of migrating the NBC network to cable is "right off the table."

In town to address the Congressional Internet Caucus' State of the Net Conference in Washington, Roberts said that Comcast was committed to a free, over-the-air NBC with local station affiliates. He said Comcast was at heart a "local company."

Roberts made his comments at an opening session Q&A with Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal.

Asked if there was "any good reason" not to turn NBC into a cable channel, he said yes. He pointed out that when Monday Night Football on ABC became Monday Night Football on ESPN, the audience went down. "To those of us who are connected, we can't understand that," he said, but "we want take that fear right off the table. We think there is a vibrant role for local broadcast and national broadcast television and intend to keep NBC a free, over-the-air channel." He called local affiliates "a great model."

Roberts was also in town to make the rounds on Capitol Hill as the company prepares to file its proposed NBCU merger at the FCC.

Roberts had no comment on the late-night wars that has cost NBC tens of millions, citing the fact that the Comcast/NBCU deal won't be a deal until the government signs off on it (Comcast filed for competitive review by the Justice Department this week, so at least the clock on what is expected to be a 9-12-month review period has started.

"It is a frustrating period of time because we are unable, legally, to comment."

He did say he thought there were "many good things happening at NBC Universal."

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 3:39pm on Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Conan Agrees to Gag Order

The Wall Street Journal reported on January 22, 2010:

"How does a professional disparager honor a nondisparagement clause? Conan O'Brien is about to find out.

Mr. O'Brien and his team are walking away from NBC with a whopping $45 million settlement, but there's a condition: "The Tonight Show" host can't bad-mouth the Peacock Network and its top brass.

"We wanted to give him a graceful exit. Hopefully he will be graceful," Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, said of Mr. O'Brien, whose last show is Friday.

Thursday night, with the ink barely dry on his exit package, Mr. O'Brien didn't spare his ratings-challenged employer. "Have to watch at least one NBC show every weeknight in order to double ratings," Mr. O'Brien said. People familiar with the matter said the nondisparagement provision kicks in when Mr. O'Brien leaves the network."

The full story:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703699204575017450198490036.html