Jay Leno’s new nightly variety show at 10 p.m. heralds the end of prime time programming as we know it. The cheap and cheerful series of club acts linked by Leno’s gags and banter is the future for all networks, according to Jeff Zucker, boss of NBC Universal, who runs the peacock network. If other networks don’t abandon their expensive drama and crime series and opt for similar budget shows, “the broadcast networks will end up like the newspaper business or, worse, like the car companies,” he said. The traditional TV schedule is being undermined by a series of innovations, including the spread of cable, the taping and TiVoing of shows, and the proliferation of shows now available online. As the head of entertainment at CW put it, “There’s no way to schedule around DVR viewing.”
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