​NBC’s great late-night change is only weeks away, and NBC is beginning to hype its hosts with new promos touting both NBC’s late-night talk show tradition as well as the new men behind the desks.

NBC last week debuted its first promo for Jimmy Fallon taking over the coveted “Tonight Show” time-slot on Monday, Feb. 17, during the much-hyped Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Pushing NBC’s honored late-night — specifically “Tonight Show” — tradition to the forefront, the spot follows the show through its long TV history. The video spaces out clips of hosts Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno (again) - though NBC chose to ignore Leno’s first run (and ensuing controversy) in favor of the second.

On Sunday, Jan. 5, NBC also ran a retrospective of Fallon’s time at his current show called “The Best of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”


The special scored NBC’s best non-sports, non-Golden Globe ratings in its Sunday 9 p.m. ET/PT time slot in a year, reaching nearly six million viewers and hitting a 2.0 rating/5 share among primetime’s key demographic of adults 18-49, hopefully a sign of good things to come.

NBC also is prepping for “Saturday Night Live"’s Seth Meyers to take over Fallon’s old spot. In a new teaser for “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (above) called “Seth’s Studio Tour,” Weekend Update host Meyer walks the 30 feet to his new office, leaving behind his old role at “SNL.” Other cast members make an appearance, such as Kenan Thompson and Cecily Strong. After Thompson takes control of Meyers’ old dressing room and Strong simply wanders off, Meyers is left to walk the whole 30 seconds to his new set alone.

While NBC’s efforts promoting Meyers surround him as a personality, the “Tonight Show” marketing plan seems to revolve around the time-honored tradition of the show itself. Promos such as these will ramp up during NBC’s upcoming coverage of the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 6, and closes on Sunday, Feb. 23. “Late Night with Seth Meyers” debuts Feb. 24 and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” will start Feb. 17 on NBC.

Read more at Variety and TheWrap.

Brief Take: With its long-lasting and successful late-night brand, NBC has a lot riding on these hosts. Meyers and Fallon’s moves in the late-night scene are being closely watched as NBC’s dominance in the timeslots gets more and more threatened by cable’s attempts at later fare.

[Image courtesy of NBC]


CREDITS (“The Tonight Show: Legacy”)

Len Fogge – President, NBC Entertainment Marketing & Digital

Ron Hayes - EVP, On Air & Video Creative

Dave Doré - SVP, On Air Launch Creative & Original Production

Tracy Grandstaff –VP, Creative Director On Air Launch Creative & Original Production

Pyro Creative – Agency

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