Last week, NBC decided to move Jay Leno out of the `Tonight show, and sidle in Jimmy Fallon. After all, Leno still commands late-night viewership. Bloomberg's Stephanie Ruhle asks a good question, Will Fallon's viewers follow him into late-night? But I think her colleague Jon Erhlichman's early point was a good one as well: Fallon is socially-plugged in, perhaps in ways that Leno is not.
This shift reminds me of what the Chicago Bulls did in the late 1980s. Coach Doug Collins had done a fabulous job of raising team performance and making a good showing in the playoffs. But unexpectedly the front office decided to fire him, and bring in Phil Jackson who had no head coaching experience in the NBA. Word was, Collins took them as far as he could, and Jackson could then bring in the championship. Man, did he ever!
Leno has probably taken `Tonight as far as he could, and NBC brass surmised that Fallon could elevate the highly competitive game of late-night to some championship equivalent.
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