LOS ANGELES — Jay Leno's primetime show has officially been canceled, NBC announced Sunday.
NBC Universal Television chief Jeff Gaspin said that Leno's primetime gig will end on Feb. 11, the day before the network kicks off coverage of the Winter Olympics.
"While it was performing at acceptable levels for the network, it did not meet our affiliates' needs, and we realized we had to make a change," said Gaspin.
The news comes just days after word leaked that NBC was planning a major overhaul to its late-night programming. The network is reportedly planning to reduce the Jay Leno Show to a half-hour and move it to 11:35 p.m. Leno would then be followed by the man who replaced him, Conan O'Brien, who would retain the Tonight Show title and still have an hour-long show. Jimmy Fallon, a favorite of NBC, would see his Late Night program moved to 1 a.m. if the network moves forward with the plan.
Gaspin said "talks are ongoing" with O'Brien, who is drawing interest from Fox.
"My goal and my hope is he will stay with the network," Gaspin said.
Leno's shift to primetime in September was a move that drew extreme criticism for taking five hours away from weekly scripted programming.
"Nothing against Jay, but there are a lot of people in the industry who hope this fails spectacularly," said Shawn Ryan, creator of the award-winning FX series The Shield, in an interview with Time magazine last fall.
After a strong start, Leno's ratings quickly plummeted and the network faced pressure from local affiliates whose 11 p.m. newscast ratings nosedived. NBC also faced heat because CBS' Late Show with David Letterman regularly beats O'Brien now in an hour that Leno dominated for 17 years.
In November, Leno said he relished the "underdog" role with so many people knocking his primetime shift. However, he also admitted that he would have preferred to have stayed in his old late-night confines.
"Would I have preferred to stay at 11:30? Yeah, sure. I would have preferred that," he told Broadcasting & Cable. "I think it's too soon to say whether I regret anything or not."
"My thing is, I did The Tonight Show for 17 years, that's what I did. It's like the America's Cup; you won it, they can't take it away from you," he continued. So now you try this and you see what happens. Do I enjoy the battle? Yes, I get a certain amount of satisfaction from pounding my head against the wall."
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© NBC / Mitchell Haaseth
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