Here’s an idea: NBC should sell DVDs of Conan’s final week
As cruel as the back and forth between NBC and Conan O’Brien has been the past few weeks, there’s a way the network could be crueler still: Package the last week of “Tonight Show” episodes with O’Brien as host into a commemorative DVD and sell it online and at NBC’s retail store in Rockefeller Center.
After all, if NBC is going to get spanked publicly for this debacle, why not make some money to offset the $40 million it’s paying to send O’Brien packing, especially since NBC owns the show and can monetize it however it wishes.
LENO GOING ON OPRAH TO REHAB IMAGE
CONAN STILL TRASHING NBC (VIDEO)
Think about it : “The Tonight Show” has hit its highest ratings under O’Brien during this past week as viewers tuned in out of either sympathy or morbid curiosity for the red-headed host.
And networks such as Fox (which, like The Post, is owned by News Corp.) have been experimenting and having success with DVD sales of popular shows like “24” being released immediately or shortly after their broadcast airing.
What better way to capitalize on O’Brien’s momentum and historic position as the shortest tenured “Tonight Show” host than to rush out a DVD?
Plus, there’s the added benefit of making more money from O’Brien. Hey, NBC has to pay for O’Brien and his staff’s severance package somehow.
We can just see the marketing campaign now: “Buy your special, limited edition DVD commemorating the unprecedented television history-making final week of Conan O’Brien as host of ‘The Tonight Show.'”
It sells itself, folks!
And it’s a particularly evil move for a network that has shown itself to be particularly evil throughout the late-night war of 2010.