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Comedy Channel drops Letterman, Fallon, Leno

Not very good news for fans of late night US TV hosts on the Comedy Channel.

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Some readers have been asking about changes coming to the Comedy Channel regarding late night US TV hosts.

Unfortunately it isn’t good news…

A Foxtel spokesperson tells TV Tonight, “From July 1 Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will come out of The Comedy Channel schedule.

“The Late Night Legends programming block has recently performed below expectations within that time slot.

“From July 1 Saturday Night Live encore screenings can be seen weeknights from 10.30pm.”

86 Responses

  1. Isn’t the point of cable that ratings don’t dictate above all else? There is no way SNL will rate anywhere near as much. One would think the value added to the channel by having the programs would out weigh adding another block of repeats no one wants to see.

  2. I emailed The Comedy Channel last week and got a reply yesterday afternoon,
    this is what they said:
    Dear Viewer,
    Thank you for taking the time to contact us and for your query regarding our late night programming.
    From July 1 Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will no longer be in The Comedy Channel schedule. Unfortunately audience numbers of our late night variety programming have been in decline and a decision has been made to discontinue the above shows.
    We regret to hear of any disappointment experienced and would like to thank you for your support of our late night programming. We also trust you will enjoy the popular Comedy Channel program Saturday Night Live which can now be seen weeknights from July 1 at 10.30pm.
    Best wishes,

    The Comedy Channel

  4. I wouldn’t be surprised if Letterman ended up on another Foxtel channel. Its already been on at least 4 in the last few years, if I remember correctly (Comedy, Arena, W, Bio)

  5. No where near good enough. One question remains, what sort of figures do they expect to pull when they put the Tonight Show on at midnight? They need to take a good hard look at themselves

  7. No more LNW Jimmy Fallon? There goes my Comedy package subscription!!
    I could totally understand them removing Letterman and Leno, but how about pairing Fallon and Craig Ferguson? Sounds like comedy bliss, but not to be.

    Unless JF shows up somewhere else on the radar, I’ll be cancelling Poxtel altogether (my contract is up). I’m miss him -and Higgins, The Roots and those brilliant TV show parodies- horribly, but I guess I’ll save some $$$.

  8. Terrible move. This couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time, we’ve been tossing up the value of Foxtel lately. As fairly regular viewers of that late night block on the comedy channel, losing it just made Foxtel seem a lot less attractive.

  9. I don’t think go or 7Two will pick up anything.

    Leno was on 7Two at prime time 6pm and got….15,000 viewers. Bewitched at that time gets 125,000.

    So these shows are simply not -popular will soon die a merciful death even in America, where ratings are declining as the viewers die of old age.

  12. Agree totally, what a disgrace. To think we pay for re-run after re-run on this channel. If you are as annoyed as I am, let them know. Their e-mail address is feedback @ thecomedychannel.com.au. To their idiotic claim that ratings are down, well that’s what happens when you move a show (Leno) from 7.30 to midnight.
    Maybe we should be paying per channel, so when one of them makes stupid decisions, they get punished by people stopping to subscribe to them. I for one, won’t be watching their out of date re-runs late at night.

  13. Jay Leno had many funny segments that I always look forward to – like the talking Photo Booth , funny headlines , Real 911 calls , Stuff We Found on Ebay , Jay Walking , Ask Jay anything , Strange Talents , New Gadgets , Pitch to America , and his monologue , guests that are interviewed and the musical guests at the end. Jay Leno has to continue to screen elsewhere ……
    Whats gonna happen when Rove goes on Jay Leno the next time ??
    We miss it ?? No way .

  14. No surprise really.Leno is probably a bit unlucky.Look forward to seeing Conan’s show soon which no doubt the Comedy Channel will pick up,and will once again do well.In the past i watched the late night shows,when Conan and Kimmel or Leno were on now it’s not the same

  15. Who is gonna watch repeats of “Saturday Night Live” They should have left 1 show on Jimmy Fallon would be my choice. Foxtel is pissing me off with all the ad’s & foxtel promo’s during these programs plus charging subscribers to watch them.

  16. Seven would own the rights to Leno and Fallon wouldn’t they due to there agreement with NBC, perhaps they were charging a fortune for on selling it (as would TEN with Letterman).

    Also if I am not mistaken, Nine would hold the rights for the new Conan show as well as TBS is still a Warner station isn’t it ? ( being Turner Broadcasting) so perhaps GO! when it starts

  18. So not too many happy viewers, my guess is they will turn up on other Fox channels in August, well I hope they do.

    David any chance Fallon will still be on, it’s in July’s Austar at 11:15 and re-run a Noon the next day.

  19. Stupid stupid move. I’m really going to miss Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, after a rocky first few weeks it’s actually turned into a really entertaining show, I hope another network picks it up soon. Seems like a cost cutting move, cheap programming over quality programming, it didn’t work for NBC and it’s not going to work for Comedy. With Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert being on ABC2 there’s officially nothing worth watching on The Comedy Channel anymore. I was hoping they would eventually get Conan O’Brien’s new show but since they can no longer be relied upon here’s hoping 7Two or ABC2 gets it.

  22. When they were running five a night (Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, Fallon & O’Brien) it was definitely overkill, but they’ve gone too far the other way now. Wouldn’t be surprised if they crop up on other Foxtel channels though.

  23. i had seen the letterman being taken off add. I just assumed they were getting rid of that because it’s on channel 10. Maybe as a pre-emptive for Conan later in the year.

    This is just silly, the few good things on the comedy channel are the recent topical, relevant beamed from the US shows. Like the Daily Show, Colbert and the late night shows.

    What next, replace Daily show and Colbert with repeats of Who’s line is it anyway?

    Those complaining about how SNL won’t rate better, which it won’t. Obvious Comedy Channel is not as concerned about content but just going back to the days when the channel was atrocious as it just repeated cheap stuff over and over again.

    I have never ever met anyone who likes SNL to the point they would have it as a regularly watched show.

    I have long thought the people who run comedy don’t actually have a sense of humour and are more focused on what’s cheat under the comedy genre or what they think people may think is funny. Looks like it’s returning to the old days when the channels weren’t worth it.

    With Colbert and Daily Show now on ABC2, is there much point for comedy? besides repeats of stuff you’ve seen a million times or don’t care about?

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