Don Ray of WSAZ TV in Charleston & Leno

[The Interpreter]

Quoted in The New York Times:

...Executives from most of NBC’s bigger station partners (and the chairman of its affiliate board) did not return phone calls or e-mail messages on Friday. The effect of Mr. Leno’s ratings also trickled down to local stations in smaller cities like Charleston, W. Va., where the NBC affiliate has seen the audience for its 11 p.m. newscast cut fully in half in the past year.

Viewers “just didn’t accept Leno at 10 o’clock,” said Don Ray, the vice president and general manager of WSAZ in Charleston. With Mr. Leno as a weaker lead-in, WSAZ’s 11 p.m. news received a 3 rating among 18- to 49-year-olds last November, down from a 6 rating for the same month last year.

As a result, “we make, in that 11 p.m. time slot, 60 percent of the money we used to make,” Mr. Ray said.

He added that he was excited about the potential move. “It’ll be good to have Leno back following our news instead of leading into our news,” he said....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/arts/ ... 9leno.html

[Hoosier Daddy]

Moving Leno to 10 pm was a totally stupid programming concept.
What were they thinking?
Me wonders if the damage has already been done ...

[Mr. Jones]

The damage has only been done if the other stations in the market are smart enough to really capitalize.

For WSAZ to truly be damaged, WCHS and WOWK have their work cut out for them. It CAN be done, but even if Leno were to stay at 10 pm for another year, 8 and 13 still couldn't catch up.

The days of 3's absolute dominance may be over, but second place isn't likely either anytime soon.

[cgarison]

Well, NBC didn't do anything that much different that changed my viewing habits. I still flip to KYW (CBS) news at 11:00 pm for my local information primarily because of their relationship with KYW 1060AM. And I leave the station on for Letterman and then flip to Fallon because I prefer the NYC late night shows over those in LA. Why? Because Letterman (and sometimes Fallon) picks up on issues of local interests or the local point of view on a national story that is more in line with those in Philly.

And it is sad to say that it was not until 2002 that I noticed the difference in east coast vs. west coast in late night television while pulling all-nighters in Providence, RI. When I was in north Jersey, I was not awake long enough after returning to the room to actually listen to the late shows that were grinding in the background.