Viral Watch: Team Conan or Team Leno? Either Way, NBC is Dying Nick Butler, January 12, 2010 NBC has tried to embrace viral marketing by launching multiple campaigns for shows like The Office, Community, and even Late Night, but it seems that NBC is now shooting themselves in the foot. I’ll admit their not “launching” a campaign this time, but their recent handling of the Jay Leno-Conan O’Brien problem has caused quite the stir on social networks, like Twitter, creating a negative campaign against the already dying NBC.Tens-of-thousands of people are tweeting “Team Conan” in support of the late night comedian who recently announced he’d leave NBC if “The Tonight Show” is pushed to a 12:05 time slot, allowing “The Jay Leno Show” a half-hour time slot starting at 11:35. “I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting,” said O’Brien. “The “Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t the “Tonight Show.”While the internet-savvy “youth” may support Conan, Leno is the safe choice for NBC. Jay Leno has already proven himself in the 11:35 slot, something Conan never had the time to do. FOX has shown interest in late night comedy shows, but has yet to go after Conan – at least officially. NBC has yet to respond to Conan’s statement, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with all of this late night chaos.This debacle has shown the negative impact of ‘viral consumers,’ who also outed Sacha Baron Cohen docu-comedy – Bruno. Social networks are a very powerful thing, and are not yet completely understood by companies – like NBC. In any case, NBC is trying to deal with this in the most formidable fashion possible, but recent history has shown that social media can be a deal breaker or a life saver (sometimes, literally). I wish NBC luck, because I have no idea how they’re going to get out of this one.What do you think – Should NBC take Leno over Conan . . . or Conan over Leno? How do you see social media impacting the future of “private business?” Leave a comment below. Viral Marketing Late NightNBCViral Watch
The Tron Sequel Soundtrack That Never Was March 29, 2010March 29, 2010Did you know Tron Legacy is not Disney’s first attempt at a Tron sequel? Given the cult following of the original and the advancements in computer generated effects, there was some speculation in 1999 that Disney was working on a sequel with Pixar. Now someone has claimed they were hired… Read More
The Last Exorcism Has A Viral Site June 21, 2010June 21, 2010A new viral site has come to us thanks to a mention by STYD. The Last Exorcism, produced by Eli Roth, tells the story of Reverend Cotton Marcus, who visits a farm to try and save the life of a young woman, who as you can tell by the title,… Read More
Trayvon Martin Case Affects Marketing For Fox’s “Neighborhood Watch” March 28, 2012March 28, 2012You might not think that the public discourse on the Trayvon Martin shooting would have much impact on Hollywood, but there has been an unexpected result. 20th Century Fox has had to change their marketing for their upcoming sci-fi comedy Neighborhood Watch. Get the details after the jump. Read More
This is all secretly a plot to get FOX’s ratings to go down. I’m guessing they aren’t exactly going to go running to Conan.
As much as I dislike Conan, I dislike Leno more. He has no class. I hope this whole thing backfires in his face and Conan walks out victorious.