Jay Leno: First musical guests

Despite Jay Leno's pronouncement yesterday that "what music gets you is a great studio audience; what music doesn't get you is a great television audience," the first guests announced for his new prime time show are musical: Jay-Z with Rihanna and Kanye West.

The superstar trio will perform "Run This Town," a song from what NBC calls Jay-Z's "highly anticipated new album" The Blueprint 3, which will be available in stores and online on September 11.

Late Night Ratings: Dave beats Conan, "Nightline" in total viewers

"Late Show with David Letterman" scored more viewers than "The Tonight Show" for the fourth week in a row, the first time that's happened since 1995, according to CBS. An average of 3.38 million viewers tuned in to see Dave, up a hair from last week. Conan's viewership went up a little bit as well, from 2.5 million to 2.63 million. "Nightline" was just a little bit behind Dave, with 3.36 million people watching the newsmagazine.

Look for Conan to beat Dave decisively in next week's ratings, since all-new "Tonight Show"s will be going up against Letterman reruns.

Not surprisingly, NBC is declaring victory (though not describing Conan as "the new king of late night"), announcing that "Conan's average 1.374 million adults 18-49 topped the 1.022 million of Letterman."

Conan O'Brien: Premature coronation

Calling Conan O'Brien "the new king of late night" in a press release after his first week on the air was perhaps not the wisest move NBC could have made, something NBC late night chief Rick Ludwin acknowledged in a press conference at the Television Critics Association summer tour today.

"I think it was premature," said Ludwin, as quoted by the TVMoJoe blog. "We were very proud of the show (and its ratings). And there were those who had predicted that Conan wouldn't be broadbased."

If he had the chance to do it all again... would he?

"No," he said, later adding that NBC is "not disappointed in Conan's ratings at all."

"He is winning 18-49, [adults] 18-34 and [adults] 35-54," said Ludwin, according to Broadcasting & Cable. "We're winning in all the demos that the advertisers want to buy."

At a conference earlier in the week, CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler ribbed the rival network, "saying that while CBS was feeling bullish about their 10 p.m. dramas opposite the new Jay Leno show this fall, NBC will 'declare victory [for] whatever ratings he gets, so it really doesn’t matter.'"

Jay Leno: Slimmed down and ready for September

A trimmer Jay Leno met the nation's TV critics at the TCA summer press tour -- he's lost 12 pounds since he went off the air by running 4 miles a day -- and offered up some details about his forthcoming show. Instead of stand-up comics, "The Jay Leno Show" will feature "correspondents" (shades of "The Daily Show," perhaps?), including Mikey Day, D.L. Hughley, Rachael Harris, Jim Norton -- and NBC anchorman Brian Williams? "He'll be doing occasional bits like 'stories that weren't good enough to make the news,'" according to this Zap2It account. Well, Williams did host "Saturday Night Live" once.

Zap2It also reveals that "the new set is bigger, won't have a desk and will allow for more interaction between Jay, his guests and the audience. Also, in homage to [U.K. car show] 'Top Gear,' Leno's building a race track in which celebrities will see how fast they can drive a hybrid car through a course -- it's called 'the Green Car Challenge.'"

Anyone who wants to see "Headlines" and "Jaywalking" had better plan on staying up 'til 11, because those popular comedy bits will have a new home in the last 15 minutes of the show, creating a lead-in to the local news. How about musical acts, which traditionally cause massive tune-out? "What music gets you is a great studio audience," Leno said, explaining that his new show will feature musical performances approximately twice a week. "What music doesn't get you is a great television audience."

New Jersey Star-Ledger reporter Alan Sepinwall noted that the host "seemed unconcerned about whether 'The Jay Leno Show' ... would succeed or fail. When a reporter, recalling how nervous he seemed at a similar press conference at the start of his 'Tonight' tenure, asked what made him so confident, he said, frankly, 'I'm rich now.'"

Sepinwall also quoted Jay on his feelings about giving up "Tonight" to Conan O'Brien: "The one thing that kills people in this town is bitterness," Leno offered. "NBC's logic is that when you host 'The Tonight Show," you give it up when you're (still) number one. That way, the show stays strong. I get it; I understand that. It makes perfect sense. But do you feel a little twinge? Sure. That's okay, but you're a grown up. You've had your chance. There's only so much pie you can eat... I enjoyed doing that, when this opportunity came along, they seemed genuinely excited or interested in it.

"This is an interesting challenge," he added. "It's more fun. We're doing things that are interesting that we couldn't do under 'The Tonight Show' banner because it wasn't 'The Tonight Show brand."

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported today on the saturation advertising "The Jay Leno Show" will receive in advance of its premiere (only 39 days away, according to the countdown clock)! Despite the fact that 80% of all Americans know Jay is coming back this fall at 10 PM, NBC plans to advertise Leno on popcorn bags, soda cups and in on-screen advertisements at movie theaters; billboards and bus shelters; and on airplanes, at gyms, in elevators and in New York City taxi cabs. "NBC will also mark the 10th aisle of about 700 supermarkets in 12 American markets," and adopt a portion of California's Highway 10 -- because Jay will be on at 10 PM, get it?

The Times cited NBC network figures that 25% of respondents surveyed "say they will probably or definitely watch the comedy hour." The goal of John Miller, chief marketing officer for the NBC Universal Television Group, is to move that number closer to 30% by September.“Usually our major goal is creating awareness,” said Miller. “This time we have awareness. We have to drive this feverish intent.”

Craig Ferguson at TCA roundup

The witty and profane Craig Ferguson met the nation's TV critics today in Los Angeles. They're predisposed to like him because he always sends pizza to their business meetings. Here's a sampling of what he said:

Entertainment Weekly:
“You mean 18-to-49 is the most important [measurement]? And they don’t measure beyond 49? In two years I’ll be 49, so f— that!”

“I may be through with my cussin’ puppets; I’m gettin’ a bit bored with them.”

TVGuide.com:
On Jay Leno's move to 10 PM: "I'm mystified by many things in life, and that one, I don't really understand what's going on there. I don't program television. I'm just the pretty one that reads the prompter."

"David Letterman is the king of late-night television. ... My relationship with David Letterman is that I sit at his feet. That's what it is. I'm kind of his bitch."

New Jersey Star-Ledger:
"America, for me, is a philosophical and emotional decision. It's not just jingoistic, it's certainly not just political. It's not a donkey or an elephant. It's a flag and an idea. It's a dream, it's a belief in fairness and opportunity... It's the only thing, maybe, that I have difficulty playing with in any iconoclastic way on the show... It's not my job to make fun of everything."

"Look, the truth is we are all in a precarious business... I don't want to be frightened. As writers, to be frightened, you will become ineffective. So I don't want to have the ambition of a timeslot or a number of dollars frighten me. Do I want to make a lot of money? F--k yeah! But I've met a lot of rich people who are d-bags. I don't want to be that -- or any more of that than is necessary. I hope to in some way be able to maintain some kind of integrity."

DVR Playground:
On his upcoming book: "It’s reasonably priced and available on September 27. It’s an autobiography and I’m looking forward to reading it. I hear it’s great."

"In his first week I watched maybe 10 minutes of Jimmy [Fallon] and I like him but I stand by what I said [in previous interviews]. I thought Jimmy’s competition is Adult Swim and I still believe that. I think my competition is sleep or the Shamwow commercial, or whatever the hell is on cable."

On his guests: "I like to think I’m a bit like a doctor at a certain point, where I take a bit of a Hippocratic oath. But my favorite guest is Betty White, my least favorite guest is a certain actor…. well, f--k him."

High Def Craig: IT'S OFFICIAL!

After doggedly following this story for several months, Talk Show News is thrilled to report that Craig Ferguson fans have gotten their wish -- on Monday, Aug. 31, Craig will begin broadcasting in glorious high definition! Take it away, CBS:

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 3 - Starting on Monday, Aug. 31, CBS will begin broadcasting THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON in high definition. That evening will also mark the debut of a new show opener, featuring Craig Ferguson in several iconic Los Angeles locations, scored to an updated version of the current show theme song.

So the report posted back on July 10 was true.

Craig did a session at the Television Critics Association summer press tour this morning. There are some quotes up right now on Daniel Fienberg's Twitter feed (looks like Craig is dropping a lot of F-bombs), and TSN will round up the blog reports later today.

Jay Leno guests on Adam Carolla's CarCast

Love cars as much as Jay Leno does? Then this week's installment of Adam Carolla's CarCast podcast is for you. Ace and Jay talk cars, cars, and nothing but cars.

Confession time: The Talk Show Newsmobile is a seven-year-old Prius with a bunch of scrapes and dings. Cars are not my thing, except as a handy way to get from point A to point B. So listening to this podcast was kind of a slog (the regular Carolla podcast, on the other hand, is way fun). But if you want to hear more about Leno's collection of autos, go get it -- it's also available as an MP3 download on iTunes (search for "adam carolla" and then click CarCast).