How Social Media Is Reacting To NBC Possibly Giving Up Primetime Hour: “Bring Back Jay Leno”

Bring back the old timecode. Or better yet, give the slot to Jay Leno.

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As usual, social media has a cynical reaction to the news that NBC may give back the third hour of primetime to its affiliates. Besides the oft-repeated slam, “wait, there’s still broadcast TV?” many viewers turned to social media to (jokingly?) suggest that NBC bring back Leno.

After leaving The Tonight Show in 2009, Leno was given a consolation prize nightly talk show at 10 p.m. It was canceled four months after it launched.

Other people on Twitter cracked how it’s the beginning of “Must Cede TV.” There were also lots of yuks about NBC being forced to televise those old color bars to save money.

“Network television will only be news and football,” one Twitter user lamented.

Apparently, the suits at the Comcast-owned network have been talking for some time about giving up the third hour. The soonest a move could be made would be a year from now, given the agreements with affiliates and advertisers.

“It would be terrible,” complained one top TV agent to Deadline, in reference to the lost of business for writers, actors, producers and other creative talent, which would also impact agencies as they rely on volume of sales. While there has been a strong shift to streaming, where the scripted business has been booming over the past several years, broadcast has remained a viable destination and an attractive business model for talent.

NBC tried to point out that it’s not looking for less content.

“We are always looking at strategies to ensure that our broadcast business remains as strong as possible,” an NBC spokesperson said in a statement provided to Deadline. “As a company, our advantage lies in our ability to provide audiences with the content they love across broadcast, cable and streaming.”

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In other words…

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