The Tonight Show didn’t begin until after 2 a.m. ET Monday—its latest start in at least three decades—after NBC’s NBA Playoffs coverage ran long and upended the network’s late-night lineup.
The night’s second game of a doubleheader, between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets, was already expected to push Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers well past their usual slots, with The Tonight Show scheduled for a 1:30 a.m. ET start—nearly two hours later than its standard 11:35 p.m. airtime. But after the game ran more than 30 minutes over, Fallon didn’t end up taking the stage until 2:08 a.m. ET. (Late Night with Seth Meyers followed at 3:10 a.m. ET.)
The delay marks the third time since September that live sports coverage has pushed NBC’s late-night block deep into the early morning.
A weather-delayed NFL Kickoff game in September forced a 1:12 a.m. Tonight Show start, while NBC’s NBA Tip-Off doubleheader in October pushed Fallon back to 1:29 a.m.—then the latest start of the Fallon era. (At the time, the only known later start for The Tonight Show came in 2013, when a Jay Leno-hosted episode followed an NFL Kickoff game delayed by lightning.)
Monday night’s delayed start set yet another late-start record for the show, going back to at least 1991—the earliest year for which Nielsen time period records for the program are available.
With NBC planning another NBA Playoffs doubleheader for Tuesday night, Fallon and Meyers fans are in for another late night tonight. Time will tell just how late.
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Probably not the best week for either show to come back from spring break, to be honest.
Oh well. This is where Peacock and the shows’ YouTube pages come in handy.
Just make the Tuesday telecasts a repeat. And move the new episode on Friday.
Great idea. Women are now ruining, I mean, “running’ NBC.
You suck just as much, child!
During Mr. Carson’s ownership of “The Tonight Show,” this would NEVER have happened. lol
Hope that helps you out!