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The War for Late Night
- When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy
- Narrated by: Sean Kenin
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
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The War for Late Night
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Publisher's Summary
A dramatic account of the politics and personalities behind NBC's calamitous attempt to reinvent late-night television.
When NBC decided to move Jay Leno into prime time to make room for Conan O'Brien to host the Tonight show - a job he had been promised five years earlier - skeptics anticipated a train wreck for the ages. It took, in fact, only a few months for the dire predictions to come true. Leno's show, panned by critics, dragged down the ratings - and the profits - of NBC's affiliates, while ratings for Conan's new Tonight show plummeted to the lowest levels in history. Conan's collapse, meanwhile, opened an unexpected door of opportunity for rival David Letterman. What followed was a boisterous, angry, frequently hilarious public battle that had millions of astonished viewers glued to their sets. In The War for Late Night, New York Times reporter Bill Carter offers a detailed behind-the-scenes account of the events of the unforgettable 2009/2010 late-night season as all of its players- performers, producers, agents, and network executives-maneuvered to find footing amid the shifting tectonic plates of television culture.
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What listeners say about The War for Late Night
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TwinPines85
- 2018-08-06
A Great Piece of Network Television History
I enjoyed the book mainly because it tells an interesting period of network television upheaval whilst linking it back to the history of late night television and the developments of media in the future. The story is gripping, interesting and at times amusing. A lot of it plays out like a politically charged soap opera that is expertly told by the narrator Sean Kenin. The 15 hours of story flew and I was disappointed when it ended, I wanted more. One of my favourite listens in the last 12 months.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2022-12-30
Terrific
Little did Conan realize that just 5 years later the entire TV industry would change and a “time slot” of 11:30 wouldn’t mean a darn thing. I felt then and I feel now that he should have stayed on and did the 12am show and let Jay do his 30 minutes at 11:30.
Conan is fine now with his Podcast network but what could have been and should have been if he simply stayed at NBC.
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