Local NBC news affiliates are totally blameless for their own ratings.

Local NBC news affiliates were sandwiched between two programs that local affiliates claim caused viewership to plummet.

"Well really we thought we were collectively building up the local viewership with our gritty cutting edge news coverage" said a source who wished to remain anonymous, "we figured everyone would be asleep by the monologue but still tuned in anyway so they would have to check that box on the Nielson survey, I guess we were right."

The reverse it turns out, was devastating. The show format itself had been running on snoozing viewers since it fell out of favor, some estimate, around September 11, 2001.

Local NBC affiliates are silent regarding questions of their own audience retention.

One floor director who wished to remain anonymous said "we can't cover as much local news as we want because most of our old union labor is gone and we can't really afford to pay anyone but the management and a couple of reporters. We do a couple of local stories, then just repeat the national news people see again when it comes on. Our biggest draw is the weather and sports."

The Miami Herald painted a lovely image of the situation "Think of Jay Leno as a prisoner in a frontier jail, NBC affiliates as the angry lynch mob forming out in the streets and the network as the brave but beleaguered sheriff trying to protect him." -- http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/tv/story/1418583.html

Unfortunately, no one seems to be discussing whether or not viewership increases for Conan because of local programming that follows Jay Leno.