Leno Comeback Isn't a Hit on Channel 2

Leftovers after a long holiday weekend:

* Several national blogs and a few newspapers have noted that Jay Leno’s ratings for “The Tonight Show” are now lower than Conan O’Brien’s were.

Which got me wondering: How is Leno doing in Western New York?

Sure enough, O’Brien’s ratings last June when he premiered were higher than Leno’s this June on Channel 2, the local NBC affiliate. The margin was .1 of one percent with O’Brien averaging a 4.2 and Leno a 4.1.

O’Brien’s figures should come with an asterisk since his premiere week in June of 2009 saw a spike in the ratings that inflated the average slightly.

But still it is clear that the ratings for Leno’s comeback so far haven’t been worth the upheaval it caused. And it makes one wonder – again – if NBC should have stuck with O’Brien. That’s always been my view.

By the way, Letterman beat Leno here with a 4.4 rating average on Channel 4, the local CBS affiliate.

* Lia Lando has had an impressive three days as anchor of the news on Channel 4 at 5:30 p.m. and on CW-23 at 10 p.m. She is a soft-spoken anchor who articulates the copy she reads very well.

However, it is unclear if she wants Lisa Flynn’s old job permanently. Lando, a mother of two who lives in Rochester, may just be here until the July sweeps are over or until the summer ends. The July sweeps are the least important of the four sweeps periods during the year.

If Channel 4 starts running an intro into the newscasts featuring Lando, then viewers will know she may be here longer. Right now, it starts those newscasts with a cold opening without the traditional introduction of the anchors.

* The Emmy Award nominations arrive Thursday with cable TV again expected to take the bulk of the nominations. The one network show that deserves several nominations is NBC’s “Friday Night Lights,” which annually is ignored in the big categories. I’ve seen the entire current season (which previously played on DirecTV) and it gets better every week. It airs weekly on Friday nights on Channel 2.

Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, who play the most loving married couple on TV, deserve nominations along with Zach Gilford. Chandler plays a high school football coach, Britton plays a high school principal and Gilford plays the former quarterback who has moved to Chicago to pursue an art career.

* Proud father Irv Weinstein sent along an email that reports his daughter, Beth Krom, is running for a congressional seat in California. But all my California readers probably know that. A two-term mayor of Irvine, Calif., Krom is a Democrat running against a Republican incumbent, John Campbell. Campbell is best known for being co-sponsor of the so-called “Birther Bill” that would require future presidential candidates to submit proof of United States citizenship. In other words, he isn’t one of President Obama’s biggest fans.

pergament@msn.com