studionashvegas | design and social media

Today it was announced (and confirmed) that Jay Leno will have his show back, and that Conan O’Brien future is heretofore unknown at this point.  I’m sure there will be plenty said about it tonight on The Tonight Show, but what’s more amazing is how (even in the face of a public outcry of support) NBC made the choice to support tenure rather than talent.

Jay Leno’s time slot is failing, miserably.  In fact, most of NBC’s programming (minus Chuck and [maybe] 30 Rock) is sucking buckets this season.  So, what would the logical thing be to do?  Punish the weaker link by removing him.  But, instead, they are choosing a wild card decision to reward failure and punish the ones who actually had to work hard to get their dues.  Conan has become what this recession is all about – the average joe whose job and livelihood is at risk.

NBC is by far the shining example of the old guard that has rejected the newer models of doing thing, not just in their programming choices.  Remember when NBC pulled out of iTunes?  Pulling out of the number one digital distribution method isn’t exactly what you would call a “winner” decision.

I can only see bad things happening from this, as the masses supporting Conan O’Brien rally behind the “Ginger Warrior” and against the oppressive “man”.

What do you think?  Whether you love Conan or hate him, do you think what NBC is doing is right?  Do you see any lasting repercussions on NBC’s side from what’s happened?

I’ve been watching the twittersphere react to what NBC is doing to Conan O’Brien, and while searching around this picture seemed to come up on nearly every site (woot.com even has this image on their product of the day):

The artist is  Mike Mitchell, and you can find other work he’s done on his website