ABC is said to be considering signing Jay Leno to host a late-night show once his contract with NBC expires. "ABC is looking to make a run at signing Leno to a multiyear deal," Sanders Morris Harris Group analyst David Miller wrote in a report released yesterday. NBC said two years ago that Conan O’Brien would replace Leno, 56, in 2009. Leno’s new show would probably start at 11:30 p.m. and be followed by "Jimmy Kimmel Live" – and ABC’s "Nightline" news show would be canceled, Miller wrote. "If there’s any weak link in ABC’s schedule, it’s late night," Miller said in an interview. "Primetime, daytime, those shows are really working. It’s late night that’s not." The number of people who watch Leno’s "Tonight Show" has fallen 2 percent, to an average of 5.7 million a night, over the last 12 months, Nielsen ratings show.
NY Post
It will be interesting to see what will happen to late night if ABC joins the game.
