European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 17, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Cover Story Van by could face Darker times with a tonight by John Lippman los Angeles times the tonight show which has been hosted since 1962 by Johnny Carson who does his final show Friday went on the air in 1954. It was the brainchild of former Abc president Sylvester a a path Weaver who also created the today show. Weaver thought viewers would want an easy going conversational program to help unwind at the end of the Day. Back in 1961 Abc s head of Talent Dave Tebit was casting about for a replacement for the temperamental Jack Parr. Parr had taken Over As Host of the tonight show from Steve Allen four years earlier but already was tiring of the grind and frequently clashed with the networks brass. As a Rule Tebit avoided watching daytime to. But when flipping the dial one Day the Talent scout happened across Carson who was hosting a game show a grammatically titled who do you Trust who do you Trust was a kind of predecessor to the newlywed game where married couples were quizzed to see How Well they knew each other or could predict their spouses answers to questions. Tebit was struck by Carsons ability to juggle interviewing humor and and Libs. De Mcmahon a former Atlantic City n.j., Boardwalk Barker was the announcer. At first Abc management was Uncertain about Carson. But Tebit brought him to Chicago to entertain the network s affiliates. Carson did a stand up act and a just killed them a Tebit remembers. A we knew we were Home  when Carson took Over the tonight show on oct. 1,1962, the average american Home had one Black and White to that picked up a handful of channels a probably an Abc and lbs affiliate Abc was not yet a full fledged network and maybe one powerful Independent station. Fully 39 percent of All people watching to late at night tuned to Carson a and he retained similar ratings through the �?T60s and �?T70s. Today the typical Home receives More than 30 channels. And by the end of the decade a thanks to Vars and High tech developments in fiber optics and video compression a to viewers will have Access to hundreds of channels and be free to watch to shows on demand rather than when the networks schedule them. Over the years Carsons Success gained him unprecedented Power in television. At first he earned $100,000 a year. Each successive contract was More lucrative for Carson a and costly for Abc. Carson arguably was the first to performer a As opposed to station or network or studio owner a to become truly Rich off the medium. That happened in the late 1970s, when his contract was renegotiated to make his company Carson productions the owner of the tonight show a a dark comedy Central Salute Cable tvs 24-hour-a-Uay comedy Central will go dark when Johnny Carson hosts his final tonight show. The Channel will put up a slide saying something like a a we re watching Johnny Carsons last show and so should  comedy Central that Day will have an extended Carson Salute including his guest shots on the Jack Benny show and the Steve Allen show and comics whose major break was on tonight. Johnny Canon on his Burbank set in 1991 while chatting about his retirement from the tonight show. Step that paved the Way for others including Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey to become principals in their programs. Abc agreed to buy other shows from Carson productions a late night with David Letterman was the first followed by the hit sitcom amen and a series of specials. The company also produced the 1982 movie the big chill. But the economics of late night to Are delicate. As Carson demanded a and won a a bigger share of the shows earnings even As the tonight show ratings dwindled no cd a profits from the show evaporated to near Zero according to one insider. With Jay Leno taking Over the network has reclaimed ownership of the program and should earn More whether the ratings Rise or fall. Carsons investments became grist for his self effacing humor he licensed his name for an apparel line bought into a Las vegas to station launched a fast food Chain attempted to buy the Aladdin hotel and Casino in Las vegas poured Money into the ill fated Delorean motor co. And got taken in the equity funding scandal one of the most notorious securities scams of the 1970s. Carson frequently joked about his three sex wives demands for Alimony. Yet last year alone he is estimated to have earned $25 million. At Carsons insistence Abc affiliates had to carry his show at 11 30 . A 10 30 . In the Midwest a or have the show yanked by the network assuring Carson of nearly National reach and making the tonight show More attractive to advertisers. The schedule has Given Carson a valuable Lead in from the affiliates local news boosting his ratings and providing a compatible setup to his topical 10-minute monologue. It is the shows most popular segment Many viewers tune out in the second half hour. A it is very unlikely his successor will be Able to Wield that kind of clout and we will probably begin to see selective delays in Leno a show a predicts David Poltrack president of marketing at lbs. A that could significantly impair the ratings of the tonight show and its Long term viability. A fissures already have opened. Last year Abc a under pressure from affiliates to give them Back More and time to sell a allowed some affiliates to delay the tonight show Start by five minutes to let stations expand their local news. With Carson gone so nervous were Abc executives that local broadcasters would delay the show further a instead scheduling More profitable syndicated shows after the late news a that they brought in Leno like Carson 30 years before to entertain at a March affiliate convention in Burbank. But the polite seemingly obligatory ovation Given by the local broadcasters did not mask their growing differences with the network. A pc arson a departure is the beginning of a new late night Era a says Neil Derrough president of Abc affiliate Knud in san Diego. A if Jay Leno does no to have a terrific beginning my guess is its going to get pretty complicated for  say Good  continued from Page 5 Manhattan a parity with Hollywood As a Glitz capital for a National audience. Johnny Carson a bom in Iowa raised in Nebraska a was the perfect Jester for a nation that still believed in the old american majority and could still be unified by it at least at bedtime. He was White male protestant and moneyed in a county that looked for those characteristics in politicians and movie stars. When that establishment fell into disrepute in the 1960s, shattered by the conflicts of race and the Vietnam War Carson proved better at building a new consensus than most politicians of his Day. Without trying to remake his own reassuring establishment personality a without trying to become a a car senior a he routinely welcomed performers slightly outside the mainstream to his show not just Blacks but also female comedians in the Days before they were widely accepted and even the occasional recognizable homosexual like Truman capote. Shortly after Carson announced his retirement last year a pair of personal tragedies prompted him to take an extended leave from tonight the death of his Friend actor Michael Landon by cancer and the death of his son Rick a photographer in a car crash. On the night he returned to the show july 17, i tuned in to watch wondering if he might break precedent and acknowledge his personal sorrows. He did. A these have not been the most Happy several weeks a Carson said in the hours final minutes. Then he showed a picture of his son a a a in a not doing this to be mawkish believe me a so that his audience could see that the Young Man looked nothing like the Drivers License photo that had widely accompanied news articles about his death. A luckily a Carson continued a the left some marvelous memories for the whole family and that a what you hang on  he leaned Back in his chair his Tongue smacking in an uncharacteristic gesture and still in control and very much the Wasp patriarch he asked the audience to a a forgive a fathers Pride As he ended the hour with a slide show of his songs nature photographs the last of which was of a  goodbye on an seb Johnny Carsons final tonight show scheduled for Friday night stateside will hit airwaves in Europe on saturday. The american forces network says it might televise the show in the wee hours saturday depending on sports. Southern european broadcasting plans to air it saturday  6 a sunday May 17, 1992