The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Coming to MTV ZA

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the most watched late night talk show in the US, is coming to MTV ZA, available on DStv channel 130.

The addition of The Tonight Show follows hot on the heels of MTV refining their schedule and becoming available on DStv's lower-tiered Compact and Extra bouquets on the 25th of August, coinciding with the channel's flagship event, the Video Music Awards.

The show starts broadcasting on MTV on the 24th of September in the 6pm timeslot daily, Monday to Friday (the only other American late night talkshow seen in South Africa, The Arsenio Hall Show is not seen in late night either). The channel says that "new episodes" will start broadcasting on that date, but at this moment it is unclear exactly how far behind the US air date we will be.

To whet our appetites, the channel will be airing a Best of Jimmy Fallon series in that timeslot from the 8th of September in the buildup to the "new episodes." The Best of series will include interviews of the likes of Will Smith and US First Lady, Michelle Obama.

The Tonight Show franchise is not entirely new to the African audience. The show aired at 11pm on CNBC Africa (DStv 410), which is an actual late night slot, during  the stint of Fallon's predescessor, Jay Leno. At the time, when CNBC Africa was asked whether they would continue airing the show with new host Jimmy Fallon, they simply stated they decided not to renew the rights.

One could wonder why MTV would add the show to their schedule and that it might not actually fit in with the rest of their content. (The show also marks the first time in MTV ZA history that the channel airs a none Viacom property on their network. Whether there will be more is still to be seen)However, NBC, the US Network that produces the show,this year proactively decided to swop the older Leno for the younger Fallon as to attract a younger audience to the most watched US late night talk show, who had been showing signs of an aging audience. Advertisers pay top dollar for viewers aged 18-49, so replacing the hosts was a measure to attract more viewers in that demo. The increased youthfulness of the show does speak to an MTV audience and is a much needed entertainment current affairs show on its schedule to compliment its own MTV News that currently air in 5 minute slots.