When NBC decided to move Jay Leno into prime time to make room for
Conan O'Brien to host the Tonight show-a job he had been promised
five years earlier-skeptics anticipated a train wreck for the ages.
It took, in fact, only a few months for the dire predictions to
come true. Leno's show, panned by critics, dragged down the ratings-
and the profits-of NBC's affiliates, while ratings for Conan's new
Tonight show plummeted to the lowest levels in history. Conan's
collapse, meanwhile, opened an unexpected door of opportunity for
rival David Letterman. What followed was a boisterous, angry,
frequently hilarious public battle that had millions of astonished
viewers glued to their sets. In The War for Late Night, New York
Times reporter Bill Carter offers a detailed behind-the-scenes
account of the events of the unforgettable 2009/2010 late-night
season as all of its players- performers, producers, agents, and
network executives-maneuvered to find footing amid the shifting
tectonic plates of television culture.

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