The real problem is that the NBC affiliates were pitching a bitch about Leno's shitty ratings leading into the local news shows at night, which in turn had a snowball effect on Conan's ratings at 1130. I think Conan is gonna come out of this smelling like roses in the long run. I imagine ABC or Fox will take a run at him.
Actually, Leno, complained about the low ratings of the news shows prior to the Leno show being the culprit for his low ratings.
Not vice versa.
Leno's argument was this - if no one was watching the news show prior to his show, then people wouldn't automatically "land" on his program. People would have to go the extra step and specifically navigate to his show, for the sole purpose of watching him, if they were watching other networks prior.
His argument is significant and does hold true in many cases if you study Nielsen ratings.
Leno took a pot shot at the news programs, because Fox News channel has de-throned CNN and all of the other major networks. There's also been a flight to the Internet for news stories.
Who wants to wait till the 11p.m. news to find out whats going on now? I have my WSJ, NYT, USA Today, or Bloomberg app on my phone to give me the news.