The Leadership Skills of Late Night
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How Letterman, Leno, and Stewart’s Leadership Qualities Are Saving Late Night TV
Selecting the right person for a challenging job is often more than just a hiring decision. It’s a negotiation. Doing it well requires exceptional leadership skills. Nowhere is this clearer than in late night television. Last year, Jay Leno left The Tonight Show. In mid-May David Letterman followed suit and in two months, Jon Stewart will do the same. For each host, the choice of a successor has been a high-stakes process worth millions of laughs for viewers, and millions of dollars for television executives.
Thus far, it has been a smooth transition. Last year Jimmy Fallon took Leno’s spot and this month Stephen Colbert will take Letterman’s chair. In a few months, Trevor Noah will succeed Stewart. As the new hosts take center stage, however, it is worth contrasting the present calm with the botched negotiations that bedeviled late night TV over the last 20 years.
How Not to Handle a Negotiation
At one time Johnny Carson was the only game in late night television. When Carson stepped down from The Tonight Show in 1992, a highly public battle for his job erupted between Leno and Letterman. Letterman ultimately lost and headed for rival network CBS. Leno won the slot, but it cost him millions of viewers. The Late Show with David Letterman topped the ratings for years before Leno could recapture his show’s audience.
Leno’s retirement in 2009 went just as badly. A highly publicized battle with his presumptive successor, Conan O’Brien, led to Leno’s brief return and O’Brien’s departure from NBC. It wasn’t until Jimmy Fallon stepped in to take Leno’s place that late night quieted down. In the interim, The Tonight Show’s ratings suffered once again.
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