Tuning In to TV

‘Leno’ shifts format

When NBC announced the format of “The Jay Leno Show,” the network pointed out that it would be turning the structure from “The Tonight Show” on its head. While it would start with a monologue, the network said Mr. Leno would save the signature comedy bits for the end of the episode in order to provide the strongest news lead-in for its local affiliates.

Indeed, since its launch Sept. 14, Mr. Leno has presented “Headlines” - his signature “Tonight Show” routine - every Monday night - as the last segment of the show.

However, on Monday, the show finally broke from that mold and returned to a format much closer to that of Mr. Leno’s “Tonight Show,” notes BroadcastingCable.com. As usual, the program opened with his monologue, followed by a commercial break. Then, just as on “Tonight,” Mr. Leno presented “Headlines” less than 15 minutes into the program. That was followed by another commercial break, before welcoming Kathy Griffin as his first guest.

So, the first half-hour or so of Monday’s “Jay Leno Show” was nearly identical to the first half-hour of Mr. Leno’s “Tonight Show.”

Now, says an NBC spokesman, “Headlines” will again air toward the front of the show next Monday. Other episodes will feature a retooled format as well, with certain comedy bits and interviews appearing earlier or later than they normally would.

Big drop for ‘V’

After last week’s record-setting premiere with 14.3 million viewers, Tuesday’s second installment of ABC’s “V” was seen by 10.6 million viewers - down 29 percent from last week. The decline marked the largest fall from a premiere for a scripted show this season, the Hollywood Reporter noted Wednesday.

The drop put “V” in second place in the 8 p.m. slot, with CBS’ “NCIS” (20.2 million viewers) resuming control of the time period. The swing is similar to when ABC debuted “FlashForward” against CBS’ time-period champion “Survivor” at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, momentarily upsetting the balance - before “Survivor” popped up again.

CBS won Tuesday night’s ratings crown, with “NCIS,” “NCIS: LA” (16.2 million) and “The Good Wife” (12.9 million) all on par with last week’s data.

After “V,” second-place ABC aired “Dancing With the Stars” results show (15.5 million), featuring Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle as a guest. At 10 p.m., a special, “In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville” - with 9.6 million viewers - improved 26 percent over last week’s broadcast of “The Forgotten” in the same time slot.

U.S. watches more TV

Americans watched an average of four hours and 49 minutes of television a day during the 2008-09 TV season, a record high, reports Agence France-Presse, citing data from the Nielsen Co.

In a blog post, Nielsen said the average amount of time Americans spent in front of the TV set during the September-to-September period was up four minutes from the previous year and 20 percent higher than 10 years ago.

Nielsen attributed the increased television consumption to several factors: more TV sets in the home, more channels and content selection, and greater use of digital video recorders.

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