When “The Tonight Present with Conan O’Brien” and “The Jay Leno Present” premiered in 2009, rankings for O’Brien’s present had been pretty strong on the outset, whereas “The Jay Leno Present” did not fare fairly as nicely. The troubles for each exhibits persevered, with O’Brien’s mentor David Letterman incessantly crushing “The Tonight Present” together with his model, “The Late Present with David Letterman” (the present crafted by CBS that lured Letterman from NBC to the brand new community). NBC’s total framework appeared prefer it was crumbling, with even its native information associates seemingly affected by the brand new host of “The Tonight Present” and Leno’s 10 P.M. outing; in an article in New York Journal, business skilled Mark Harris tried to clarify what was occurring. “Handing 10 p.m. to Leno has additionally damage rankings—severely in some cities—for the late-night newscasts of NBC’s associates,” Harris wrote. “That, in flip, has dinged the ‘Tonight Present,’ which, within the shaky arms of Conan O’Brien, now loses to David Letterman (who, even mid-scandal, appears to be having the time of his life).”
What this all led to is that Zucker and different NBC executives determined they wished to easily bump “The Tonight Present” again to a midnight slot — considerably invalidating the phrase “tonight,” as it will actually air within the wee hours of the morning — and have Leno observe the night information as a substitute at 11:30, identical to he did because the host of “The Tonight Present.” Infuriatingly, O’Brien’s contract apparently did not forestall the community from doing this.