NBC Cooling On Jay Leno

NBC has released the following statement based on claims that they had already canceled The Jay Leno Show (TLF):

“Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay’s show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance.”

Let's spend a moment dissecting this statement:

"Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today": Yeah, ok, I don't really agree, but a lot of people seem to like him.

"As we have said all along, Jay’s show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network.": Ok, but what Zucker said at the time was "I don't think we'll ever be able to say, 'NBC is No. 1 in prime time,'" so it isn't like you had good expectations. Scheduling Leno at 10pm just seemed like an attempt to save money by producing 5 less 1 hour dramas. And it has gone as well as NBC's previous brilliant plans regarding money, e.g. the extra long car commercial that was "Knight Rider."

And, finally, "It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance." Oh, you mean like when that one affiliate simply refused to air it? Or the fact that it is consistently dead last in broadcast ratings and even gets beat by some cable shows? 

So, NBC has not canceled Leno yet; but it is pretty clear that the experiment failed and that NBC is hedging its bets (they are planning to make 13 drama pilots this year) for when Comcast-NBC (inevitably) decides to scrap Leno entirely.