Bill Carter has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 8 ratings. The most-rated is The War for Late Night.
The War for Late Night
Summary
A dramatic account of the politics and personalities behind NBC's calamitous attempt to reinvent late-night television. When NBC decided to move Jay Leno into prime time to make room for Conan O'Brien to host the Tonight show - a job he had been promised five years earlier - skeptics anticipated a train wreck for the ages. It took, in fact, only a few months for the dire predictions to come true. Leno's show, panned by critics, dragged down the ratings - and the profits - of NBC's affiliates, while ratings for Conan's new Tonight show plummeted to the lowest levels in history. Conan's collapse, meanwhile, opened an unexpected door of opportunity for rival David Letterman. What followed was a boisterous, angry, frequently hilarious public battle that had millions of astonished viewers glued to their sets. In The War for Late Night, New York Times reporter Bill Carter offers a detailed behind-the-scenes account of the events of the unforgettable 2009/2010 late-night season as all of its players- performers, producers, agents, and network executives-maneuvered to find footing amid the shifting tectonic plates of television culture.
©2010 Bill Carter (P)2010 Penguin Audio
The Late Shift
Summary
New York Times best seller: A "gripping" true story of late-night comedy and behind-the-scenes drama (Los Angeles Times). When beloved host Johnny Carson announced his retirement after 30 years on The Tonight Show, millions of Americans mourned. But inside the television industry, the news ignited a battle between two amazing talents - Jay Leno and David Letterman - who both yearned to occupy the departing legend's chair. For NBC, it would be a decision with millions of dollars at stake. Soon these two comedians with strikingly different styles, who had once shared a friendship as they worked the clubs together, would be engaged in a fierce competition for the prize. Based on in-depth reporting and interviews with those involved, and updated with a new introduction by the author, The Late Shift is a "vivid, behind-the-scenes, blow-by-blow account" of the fight that ensued, as stars, agents, and executives maneuvered for control of the most profitable program in TV history (Chicago Tribune).
©1995 Bill Carter (P)2020 Tantor
Desperate Networks
Summary
In the executive offices of the four major networks, sweeping changes are taking place and billions of dollars are at stake. Now Bill Carter, best-selling author of The Late Shift, goes behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of the television industry, capturing the true portraits of the larger-than-life moguls and stars who make it such a cutthroat business. In a time of sweeping media change, the four major networks struggle for the attention of American viewers increasingly distracted by cable, video games, and the Internet. Behind boardroom doors, tempers flare in the search for hit shows, which often get on the air purely by accident. The fierce competition creates a pressure-cooker environment where anything can happen.
©2006 Bill Carter (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.