LocalNewser dispatches from the frontlines of local news

How Leno Move Could Put Sunbeam on Both Ends of the Story

UPDATED--Conan's released his statement saying he will not be part of any effort to move "The Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m., saying to do so would be to participate in the franchise's "destruction."  (Read Conan's must-read statement here)

So Conan's one step closer to jumping ship, and potentially setting up another showdown between stations and a network:

While most local stations kept their growing concerns about Jay Leno and his corrosive effect on their late news numbers quiet--at least publicly--one station (or should I say JUST ONE STATION) spoke out, and early.  Boston Sunbeam station WHDH first floated the no Leno at 10 idea way back in April, 2009, as the Boston Globe reported on April 3rd:

WHDH-TV Channel 7, Boston's NBC affiliate, is refusing to air Jay Leno's new talk show in the lucrative 10 p.m. hour in favor of its own hourlong local news show, and NBC doesn't like it one bit.  "WHDH's move is a flagrant violation of the terms of their contract with NBC," said John Eck, president of NBC Television Network. "If they persist, we will strip WHDH of its NBC affiliation. We have a number of other strong options in the Boston market, including using our existing broadcast license to launch an NBC-owned and operated station."

At the time, Sunbeam owner Ed Ansin told the Globe he had his doubts about the wisdom of putting Leno at 10 p.m., saying local news at 10 would be a far wiser move:  "We feel we have a real opportunity with running the news at 10 p.m. We don't think the Leno show is going to be effective in prime time," Ansin said told the Globe's Johnny Diaz. "It will be detrimental to our 11 o'clock [newscast]. It will be very adverse to our finances."

Nobody ever said Ansin didn't have a good brain for the television business.  Leno turned out to be adverse to finances at all sorts of stations, including WHDH, which ultimately lost the fight over The Jay Leno Show, and saw Ansin's prediction come painfully true.  As the Boston Herald reported, "Channel 7's 11 p.m. news has taken a savage beating since the third-place NBC network bumped Leno to 10 p.m. - with viewership plunging an astonishing 20 percent during the crucial November 'sweeps' period."

Now Leno's headed back where he belongs (if you like Leno, that is) at 11:35, and Conan O'Brien may bolt the network rather than take a push-back to 12:05 a.m. Many have suggested the most likely next stop for the Tonight Show host would be FOX, which maintains the right in its agreement with affiliates to air a late night show at 11:00 p.m.

And that's where Ansin could come in--again.

Putting Conan on FOX would mean airing in Miami on Ansin's flagship WSVN, which currently airs news at 11:00 and Deco Drive at 11:30.  Would Ed Ansin's take on Leno have improved enough to convince him to do the one thing that he seems to be genetically unwilling to do--that is, to pull back on local news?

Folks who've worked for the man say bet on 7 News at 11, and another fight--thanks to Jay Leno. Though FOX, for its part, seems to be wary of starting that kind of fight, at least right now, with Kevin Reilly telling The New York Times, "the affiliates are just coming through a very challenging business cycle,” he said. “They have gotten hit very hard by the recession so we’re not going to be cavalier about this in the least.”