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Late-night gets a prime new parking space.<p>NBC announced four years ago that <font color=yellow>Jay Leno</font> would be leaving <I>The Tonight Show</I> in 2009, to be replaced by <font color=yellow>Conan O'Brien</font>. With the change happening next May, NBC had to decide what to do about Leno. He is the top-rated late-night host, and they did not want to risk losing him to a competing network.<p>The solution, reports <A class="link" HREF="http://www.reuters.com/home">Reuters</a>, was to give Leno a primetime slot. The new show, tentatively titled <I>The Jay Leno Show</I>, will premiere in the fall of 2009. It will retain some aspects of <I>Tonight</I> (such as "Jaywalking" and "Headlines"), but the format is still a work in progress.<p><I>Leno</I> will air in the 10:00pm timeslot five nights a week. This will put it in competition with scripted programming that includes <I>CSI: Miami</I> and <I>CSI: New York</I>. While NBC does not expect <I>Leno</I> to draw an audience as large as such shows pull each week, they feel there are benefits to putting a late-night host in primetime.<p>The production cost for a full week of <I>Leno</I> will be comparable to a single episode of a typical scripted drama. Airing the show five nights a week will decrease NBC's additional primetime hours from 22 to 17, which will enable the network to devote more money to other programmes. A draw for advertisers could be that, as a topical news show, viewers are less likely to DVR <I>Leno</I> to watch at a later time.<p>"We are looking to change how broadcast television works in this new media landscape, and we were looking to keep Jay Leno in the family. With this we have accomplished both," <font color=yellow>Marc Graboff</font>, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a news conference. Leno explained, "It just seemed like the time was right for this. Would I do this at the beginning of my career, no. But after 17 years of being on <I>The Tonight Show</I>, it's fun to try something different."<p>The original information is from <A class="link" HREF="http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0926481820081209">Reuters</a>.<center></center>