Leno to Conan to Fallon, Oh My!

Posted by JR on July 21 at 2:15 PM
Late night TV is preparing for a major shakeup this coming year. As Jay Leno and his chin step out of the spotlight and back into that garage where he collects classic automobiles, everyone's favorite carrot top (because no one likes the actual Carrot Top), Conan O' Brien will sit behind Leno's desk. To complete this game of musical tv host chairs, SNL's spacey, character-breaking silly boy Jimmy Fallon will hop in to man Conan's show.

That's a lot of movement, and a lot of new faces to face. Of course, people know Conan well, and so there is minimal adaptation there as he flies to California to help his writing team move their dartboards into NBC's Burbank offices. But what about Jimmy Fallon? I don't know him that well, and I imagine many others might not be so comfortable with this clown getting suited up for his new gig.

But, as the New York Times has reported, Lorne Michaels is going to leverage the Web to ingratiate his new host to his waiting audience.  This is a brilliant move, and truly the first of its kind I've heard of. Through a nightly webisode-style program (no longer than 30 minutes, says Michaels... maybe even shorter), Fallon will get a chance to get his lines right, stop breaking character and giggling all the time, and maybe keep some of Conan's audience.

This is a great new way to deal with programming on the Web. To date, you only have a few versions of Web television:

1. Special, Web-only broadcasted programming that will never see the light of Basic Cable


2. Re-runs of television programming for those who don't have DVRs (note: this does not include Gossip Girl, whose head honchos ridiculously decided to not broadcast on the Web, in order to court advertisers and increase traditional television viewers


3. Silly videos of cats flushing toilets and parrots, dressed as pirates, putting Mentos into coke bottles. Oh, and YouTube, don't think I'm happy about your decision to add pre-roll ads!

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon online is a brilliant move - similar to when a Broadway show does its tryouts in LA or Denver or Chicago. It gives the producers a chance to streamline the show, generate buzz, and gauge reception.

A brilliant idea, yes... but Lorne shouldn't stop here. No, I cry! Please! Use the web to your total advantage. You took a step in the right direction, so be sure not to plug up your ears and go "lalalalallaa" from here on in.

Rather, be sure to do some of the following:

1. Comments! Invite viewers to rate and review the nightly performances. And actually listen to their comments - these are the people who will be watching the show.


2. Open source! Allow all visitors to email the video, download the video to their MP3 players, embed it on their MySpace pages, their Facebook profiles. Heck, even let those "pirates" rip the video and stream it on YouTube. Sure, it's against copyright - but guess what? You want to build in audience for this show - so nothing should be off limits.


3. Interactivity! Can we do some live streaming? What about online surveys? Have Jimmy respond to web users questions and comments. Do NOT treat this like traditional television, because it is not.


4. Contests! Create brand ambassadors and have them go out and enlist as many friends as they can to watch the show. Then bring on the few who bring in the most traffic. You won't pay them a cent, they'll be on TV, and everyone wins.


5. Advertisting? NO! Hey Lorne, I know you like to monetize. All successful businessmen do. But let's play light and airy with the pre- and post-role ads. Use some tastefully inobtrusive banners if you must, but don't force potential viewers to sit through Slim Jim and Saturday Night Live ads. This is a tentative, experimental audience. Court them while you still can.

Of course there is so much more to do, but I had to get these out. Lorne Michaels is breaking new, interesting ground here. And, now that he's started, why make a mistake and stop? Topics: advertising, interactive        SHARE: