I wrote a post last year about Content vs. Medium, stating that content was still very expensive to produce, regardless of the medium.
Amongst the NBC decision to move the Jay Leno Show to 11:35pm, Conan, who currently hosts the Tonight Show, published a long statement today. You may read it in it’s entirety here.
One statement which stands out is this (emphasis mine):
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy
hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is
for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably
hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The
Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its
destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the
Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I
believe nothing could matter more.
That statement is not only true for the Tonight Show, but for nearly every prime time property. And, online producers shouldn’t forget that. The value of a brand on television is much higher than the value of an online-only brand – at-least for the foreseeable future. However, combining prime-time brands with digital brands is an extremely powerful combination and the future of entertainment.
