Behind the HeadlinesThe Report
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 18 NOVEMBER 13, 2019
MEDALS,^ THEATER:^ADOBE^
STOCK. KIM
ME
L:^ ABC/RANDY^
HO
LM
ES.^
CO
LBERT:^
TIMOTHY^ K
URATEK/CBS.^ F
ALLON:
ANDREW^ LIPO
VSKY/N
BC.
BE
LL:^HEI
DI^ GUTMAN
/NBCUNIVE
RSAL.^ S
ALKE:^ AMY
SUSSMAN/GETTY^
IMAGES.W
hen Jimmy Fallon
debuted on NBC’s
The Tonight Show in
2014, he was watched by more
than 11 million viewers. Today
his live viewing audience is less
than 2 million a night and he’s in
the third year of a ratings tumble
while CBS rival Late Show With
Stephen Colbert builds an audience
by mining Tr u m p-era anxiety.
The instability at Tonight was
exacerbated Nov. 4 when NBC
revealed that Jim Bell would exitas executive producer after one
year in the job. A 28-year veteran
of NBC Sports and News, Bell
left NBCUniversal entirely after
producing Fallon’s show on Nov. 7.
To many observers, the choice of
Bell, with his news background,
echoed that of Chris Licht, an
experienced news producer at
MSNBC and CBS News, who was
tapped in 2016 to bring order to
The Late Show. Bell attempted
to inject Tonight with political
urgency. He added a live showafter the first Democratic debate
in June and Sunday editions in an
effort to capitalize on the Sunday
Night Football audience. But
Fallon kept declining in a frag-
mented content universe where
shows are increasingly viewed via
viral clips. “As his producers got
conscious of what other shows
were doing, they tried to reshape
him,” says Bill Carter, a former
New York Times writer who has
authored multiple books about
late night. “The bottom line is, let
Jimmy be Jimmy.”
Gavin Purcell, who launched
Fallon’s show and has maintained
a personal relationship with the
host, is returning as an interim
Tonight showrunner. His success
in debuting many of the show’s
viral segments — including
“slow jam the news” — could help
restore Fallon’s appeal.
Meanwhile, The Late Show has
drawn the biggest total audience
in late night for three
straight seasons with
3.44 million so far in
the current period.
Last season Stephen
Colbert eked out CBS’
first victory since 1994-95 in the
key ad-sales demo of adults 18-to-- It holds a narrow lead — one
hundredth of a ratings point —
over The Tonight Show through the
first six weeks of the current sea-
son. Like just about all of linear
TV, late night has suffered ratings
declines. The Tonight Show, The
Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel
Live! are collectively down about
16 percent in adults 18-to-49 and
7 percent in viewers versus the
first six weeks of the 2018-19 sea-
son. All three have dropped by at
least 15 percent in the demo, but
Fallon has taken the largest total-
viewer loss, dropping 17 percent
to 5 percent for Jimmy Kimmel
and 1 percent for Colbert. Tonight
and Kimmel are in a near dead
heat in viewers (1.92 million for
Fallon, 1.93 million for Kimmel).
“He’s still making a good show,”
notes a former producer. “It’s
about where the expectations are
coming from. Is NBC pushing
him to do a more political show or
is it Jimmy thinking that’s what
he should do?”Rick Porter contributed
to this report.Amazon Takes Netflix’s Theater Playbook
D
on’t bother asking Alexa if it knows what
the box office numbers are for The Report,
Amazon Studios’ post-9/11 CIA drama. Taking a
cue from Netflix, Amazon won’t report grosses
when the pic opens Nov. 15 in select theaters.
Until now, Amazon’s movie division has honored
the theatrical window, but under the leadership
of Jennifer Salke, it has decided to truncate
the release of some titles in order to make them
available to Amazon Prime customers almost
immediately. (Amazon has suffered a string of
film misses, including Late Night, which grossed
$22 million after being picked up for $13 mil-
lion at Sundance.) The Report, which debuts on
Prime on Nov. 29, is the first of those movies,
followed in early December by The Aeronauts.But other Amazon awards contenders, includ-
ing Shia LaBeouf’s Honey Boy, which launched
over the Nov. 8-10 weekend to glowing numbers,
are getting a traditional release and report-
ing grosses. “Maybe Amazon is
being emboldened by Netflix
to decide when, where and how
they report theatrical box office
grosses,” says Comscore analyst
Paul Dergarabedian.
Netflix movie chief Scott Stuber has argued
that there’s freedom in not having to worry about
box office — a freedom his studio rivals envy
— while ensuring that the streamer’s features,
such as Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, qualify
for awards. A theatrical run, however abbreviated,is always a way to keep filmmakers happy.
While Netflix and the major theater chains
remain at odds, exhibitors so far aren’t criticiz-
ing Amazon. But they won’t play The Report or
other films that won’t adhere to the 72- to 90-day
window. So, like Netflix, Amazon will have to pay
a handsome fee to indie theater chains to rent
space, known as “four walling.” As Salke noted
during THR’s Oct. 30 Executive Roundtable of its
release plan: “It’s a case-by-case situation.”A politics pivot for The Tonight Show doesn’t pay off as the network
swaps showrunners and observers say to ‘let Jimmy be Jimmy’
BY MARISA GUTHRIECan NBC Halt Fallon’s
Long Ratings Tumble?
The studio won’t report box office for some awards contenders BY PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
Fallon’s in Third Place
(Except in the Demo)
While trailing in viewers, To n i g h t tops
Kimmel in the coveted age groupShow
The Late Show
(CBS)
Jimmy Kimmel
Live! (ABC)
The Tonight
Show (NBC)Adults 18-49
0.430.34Viewers
3.44M1.93M1.92M 0.42
Source: Nielsen (Sept. 23–Nov. 1)BellNOW
PLAYING... AND (^) A
LSO
2
1
3
Salke