OBAMA'S 'Tonight Show' Appearence--How NBC Scored Major Exclu and How the Media Covered It

HIS 'Special Olympics' comment/blunder aside, President Barack Obama's appearance with Jay Leno on the "Tonight Show" was a PR bonanza for the Chief Executive, and a major coup for NBC and Leno, who finishes out his late-night reign at the peacock network.

Obama's 40-minute schmooze with Leno was the first-ever for a sitting President and the behind-the-scenes intricacies between NBC and the White House were almost as compelling as the interview itself.

Knowing weeks in advance that the President had planned a visit to Southern California, NBC's Burbank Execs, with an assist from CEO Jeff Zucker, feverishly lobbied the White House Press office and Obama's inner circle, to go on the Leno program, offering virtually the entire show as a message-vehicle to millions of Americans not inclined to see the leader of the free world on late-night television.

It should be noted that NBC brass and Leno's PR people touted the fact that, unlike David Letterman's perceived, more affluent and educated, demos, Leno's overall popularity, particularly in the Midwest, fly-over, so-called 'red states, would work better with the President's intent to reach out to an audience that may have been more receptive to conservative ideals.

That element was the guiding force behind the White House decision, and Obama's thumbs-up, in light of the AIG 'disaster/fallout, as Mr. Obama set to get the message out that bonuses to the economically-ailing company would be under full scrutiny by the President and his advisers.

Both the President, Leno, and NBC seemed to be big winners as the late-show appearence drew record numbers; Leno, not known as a particularly strong interviewer, delivered a decent performance, and Obama and White House officials were delighted with the appearance.

For one thing, the President's Burbank virtuoso put the AIG story out of the immediate news cycle, at least for the day, and further cemented Obama's "rock-star" persona, as throngs of people, media personnel, including the White House press corps, local and national correspondents lined the NBC studios before and after the taping.

It was "politics in the new century" on display and the strategy seemed to be a major plus for all parties, unless of course, your Letterman or CBS.

03-20-'09
8: 45: 29 AM PST
Rich Lieberman