2008 was a tough year for TV

The writers strike disrupted an entire year, but the recession may be the catalyst for even greater changes in the industry.

Tough financial times led NBC to announce a game-changer: The former rating behemoth, now entrenched as the No. 4 network, announced it would no longer be programming the Monday through Friday 10 p.m. hour with scripted, reality or even newsmagazine shows. Instead, talk show host Jay Leno will be doing a version of his former gig as host of "The Tonight Show."

NBC believes bringing live topical programming during the last hour of prime time will stop people from taping the show for later viewing, making it appointment TV.

And cheap appointment at that, with the talk show's price tag looking like a Macy's post-Christmas closeout sale. The New York Times reports NBC is looking at spending about $2 million a week on the program rather as opposed to the $15 million it costs for an hour of scripted or reality programming.

While the theory behind bringing Leno on may be sound, the actual deployment is flawed. Leno is no Jon Stewart, a man who might actually get people to flee scripted programs at that hour for a searing look at the day's news.

NBC stockholders should be pleased by the short-term pleasure of saving some money, but there's little doubt that when given the option of Leno at large or "CSI," "Law & Order" or certainly "The Mentalist," many viewers will be passing on Jay.

The networks long ago abandoned Saturday night, and it appears that other nights, like the low-rated Fridays, might be considered trim worthy too. News Corp's 20th Century Fox Television studios, which turns out such shows as "24," "My Name is Earl" and "Burn Notice," recently announced it was asking current productions to drop costs by 2 percent.

Although the Screen Actors Guild has asked members to authorize a strike vote, it seems unlikely actors would impose a second blow to an already struggling industry.

As viewers begin 2009 coping with their own economic challenges, the networks, it seems, are right there with them.

Susan C. Young is a writer in Northern California.

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