Bloomberg News (via the Chicago Tribune) has a story that, according to a media analyst, ABC is poised to go after Jay Leno and sign him to a contract after his NBC contract expires in 2009.The analyst, David Miller from the Sanders Morris Harris Group, writes in a report that ABC would put Leno at 11:30, cancelling Nightline in the process. They will then push Jimmy Kimmel Live to 12:30. Both ABC and NBC spokespeople denied that there is any merit to this report, but you never know what's going on in the background.
If I'm Jimmy Kimmel, I'd be pretty pissed about being pushed to 12:30 after what would be six years of dutiful service at midnight, especially for the comedy black hole that Leno has become. But Leno gets the ratings, doesn't he? For ABC, it might be worth pissing people off.
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