Nbc Tough Decisions

Difficult Decisions                                                                                                                       1
Chapter 8 Case Study: Making Difficult Decisions at NBC Universal
The NBC Universal’s late night programming network where faced with some very tough decisions regarding Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien talk show host. I’m sure everyone is familiar with this dynamic duo, if not allow me to share a little history about these two gentleman. Jay Leno was born James Douglas Muir Leno on April 28, 1950, in New Rochelle, New York to father Angelo Leno and mother Cathryn Leno. Jay Leno is the late night talk show host and stand-up comedian who hosted The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2009.   Conan O’Brien was born Conan Christopher O’Brien on April 18, 1963 in Brookline, Massachusetts to father Dr. Thomas O’Brien and mother Ruth Reardon O’Brien. Conan O’Brien started out as a TV writer before becoming a talk show host. Conon O’Brien now the new host the Tonight Show for the last 12yrs on NBC host by Jay Leno previously. NBC management decided to move Jay Leno to prime-time slot while elevating Conan O’Brien to the new host of “The Tonight Show” then NBC decided to reverse their decision. NBC became concerned that O’Brien might move to another network, so they decided to make him a promise in 2009 that he would succeed Jay Leno as the host of “The Tonight Show”. NBC was betting by this time Jay Leno would be ready to retire.   Unfortunately in 2009 Jay Leno announced he has no intentions on retiring as host of “The Tonight Show”.   The plot now thicken as NBC and CEO Jeff Zucker look for solutions to keep Jay Leno on the air. The network came up with “The Jay Leno Show” while moving Conan into the Tonight Show seat. NBC was feeling pretty good about saving the network money and the decision to keep both late night talk show host’s.  

 
Difficult Decisions...