Arsenio returning to late night TV?

[Nate Wesley]

I liked Arsenio in the beginning.  but as time went on he started booking mostly rappers as musical guests and fewer country, rock and white guests.  The tone of the show began to change and was taking itself too serious.  The constant Bush bashing and "white folks" jokes began to chase away viewers.  He even mentioned on air that stations executives complained that the show had become "too black" he continued on the same path which eventually led to the shows demise.  Giving Louis Farrakahn an entire hour didn't help either.  In the early episodes his monologes were ok, but his interview and hosting skills were never as good as Carson

I think you miss (or oddly, hit) the point: Being 'the anti-Carson' was precisely the appeal of Hall's show. 

For all of his accolades, Johnny Carson was not universally loved by the entire TV watching audience.  At the very least, there was a definite section of ongoing culture his show definitely ignored during the last years of his tenure.  Arsenio Hall's show definitely catered to younger tastes of the day, and healthy helpings of hip-hop culture (found in music, film, comedy, even pro sports and politics) were what people were consuming.

(That's not to say that he or his audience didn't/couldn't appreciate older legends; YouTube search 'Sammy Davis Jr. on Arsenio' and enjoy one of the best moments in the show's history.)

I'd argue that part of Conan O'Brien's success (and Jimmy Kimmel's approach) can be traced to Arsenio proving that you can thrive catering to young viewers.  For that matter, Arsenio's unflinching embrace of hip-hop was the right move, now that hip-hop is entrenched as part of the mainstream.  Neither Leno and Letterman's bookers can ignore Wale, Nicki Minaj, or Pitbull. 

[rgseark2009]

I agree with the last poster.  Arsenio was a trail-blazer of sorts (he guest-hosted on the old Joan Rivers Show on FOX) and his most successful days were when he was counter-programmed in syndication against Johnny Carson, although in Little Rock his timeslot (first on KATV, then KTHV) ran against the old Late Night With David Letterman on NBC (11:35 pm CT).  Carson was a late-night legend but his audience was aging and even Leno at the time had some ratings issues taking over that slot.

There were other attempts over the years to compete against Carson (the various CBS shows including Pat Sajack) but Arsenio's post-boomer appeal was a break from the past.  Once though that Carson gave way to Leno and the late night war with Letterman, the syndicated Arsenio was squeezed out.  Adding to the woes was that Arsenio's syndicator insisted stations run a program afterwards called The Party Machine, which caused some stations (such as KATV) to drop Arsenio.  Arsenio ended up on KTHV, then a third-tier CBS affiliate which did not clear the CBS late night programming and/or did so on a long delay.

Arsenio would face a world of digital cable choices unknown in his day, plus the late night landscape already has the established Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, (Jimmy) Fallon, Conan.  Honestly, he would not be able to recreate his 80's salad days appeal, although he would still have a cult following.

[DToTheJ]

Ah, "The Party Machine With Nia Peeples"... So it was Paramount's forcing a cramdown of that show that led to some of the "big-three" affiliated stations to drop Arsenio? Interesting...

His best bet might be to offer himself as an alternative for prime access (7-8 PM Eastern and Pacific) to the game shows and off-network reruns that populate that daypart...

Ask Leno or even Craig Kilborn if doing a late-night show airing before the late-night viewing period is a good idea...

[nomadcowatbk]

Arsenio was pushed past midnight on many stations when Letterman moved to CBS and FOX put on Chevy Chase. Even after the Chevy Chase was cancelled Arsenio was not moved back, by then his show was stale and he was stilling doing Dan Quayle jokes. He never seemed to move past 1992. Adult Swim is beating the networks late night offerings among young men.

[FreddyE1977]

...so when will President Obama be appearing, and what instrument will he be playing?   

[nomadcowatbk]

...so when will President Obama be appearing, and what instrument will he be playing?   

What instruments does Romney play?

[firepoint525]

Some CBS stations carried Arsenio Hall until Letterman started on the network either pushing his talk show past 1am or off the schedule.

Are these the CBS stations that also carried Pat Sajak's talk show, or did he get pushed off the schedule, too?

I sort of associate Arsenio's original show with FOX because it aired on my then-local FOX affiliate in the same time slot that Joan Rivers had occupied just a couple of years earlier.

By the way, Arsenio is something like 56 now.  He, too, is no longer young and hip.

[SteveRichards]

The late-night TV landscape is a lot different than it was 20+ years ago.  In those days, as far as talk shows went, it was pretty much just Carson and Letterman, and they were both on NBC.  Pat Sajak came and went on CBS.  Now we have Leno, Fallon, Letterman, Ferguson, and Kimmel.  Add to that, Conan on TBS.  We also have Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert stirring things up on Comedy Central.

Arsenio got a lot of traction back in the day because he was carried on a good handful of CBS affiliates (who either pre-empted or delayed CBS programming to do so).  Arsenio was also on a handful of ABC affiliates...some of which delayed "Nightline" to air him, other stations aired him after "Nightline."  CBS O&O WBBM in Chicago even aired Arsenio for a time at 11:30 Central following the first hour of CBS Late Night (the second hour got delayed till after Arsenio).

Fast-forward to today...Arsenio's new show will probably not see the light of day on a "Big 3" affiliate, and if it does, it won't be before 1AM ET (and that would be on ABC affiliates).  There is still a small handful of ABC affiliates that delay "Nightline" either by 30 minutes or an hour, but that number is way down from what it was 20 years ago.  I doubt an ABC affiliate, such as KMBC in Kansas City, would risk dumping a very successful sitcom block at 10:35 Central to put on a new Arsenio show that might very well bomb.

Arsenio's new show will likely be on a hodge-podge of Fox, CW, and MyNet afffiliates.  Arsenio might get a little attention on the Fox affiliates if his show is good.  With the the late-night talk show landscape as crowded as it is, combined with the fact that there's no way Arsenio will get the kind of stations he got with his first show, it's hard for me to predict success.

[anotherguy]

In the recent PBS documentary on Carson, Arsenio made the point that he wasn't trying to compete with Carson's audience, but to get their kids, But my taste leaned more toward Letterman at that time. I'd have to agree that now he may have lost his appeal to younger viewers, and his better chance may be in the daytime.

[nomadcowatbk]

Some CBS stations carried Arsenio Hall until Letterman started on the network either pushing his talk show past 1am or off the schedule.

Are these the CBS stations that also carried Pat Sajak's talk show, or did he get pushed off the schedule, too?

I sort of associate Arsenio's original show with FOX because it aired on my then-local FOX affiliate in the same time slot that Joan Rivers had occupied just a couple of years earlier.

By the way, Arsenio is something like 56 now.  He, too, is no longer young and hip.

Still younger than Letterman or Leno, Conan is pushing 50, 18-49ers don't watch late night like they used to