Reply #8: The "core" Tonight Show audience...IF they've stayed with Leno...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Is the audience that was faithful to Johnny Carson during his tenure, 1962-1992.

For anyone outside of that demographic, the words "The Tonight Show" are meaningless (unless they think that Jay Leno invented the Tonight Show).

So do the math. Take the Johnny Carson audience, as well as the Johnny-Jay transition audience, and look at the appeal between watching "The Tonight Show" at 10:00 or watching it at 11:30.

What this move did, essentially, was keep "The Tonight Show" in Jay Leno's hands, as far as anyone who cares about those words are concerned.

Conan O'Brien WILL NOT BE HOSTING "The Tonight Show."

He will be hosting "Late Nite With Conan O'Brien," one hour earlier.

:toast: