I am – Hercules!!

From a new Broadcasting & Cable interview with Jay Leno:

B&C: You've had good affiliate relationships for a long time. What's that like now with the negative press?

LENO: I called a bunch of them last week. Unless they are the greatest actors in the world, they seem to be hanging in there and say they are in it for the long haul. I called Baltimore, Boston, the head of the affiliate board. They don't see it as dire as a lot of people are making it out to be….I think they seemed pleased that someone on at 10 o'clock is concerned about their well-being and their lead-in.

Affiliates have recently seen decreases in ratings for their post-"Leno" local newscasts, as well as for NBC's late-night shows.

Leno also tells B&C he would have preferred to stay at 11:35 p.m. and if NBC offered him 11:35 p.m. again, he’d take it.

Find all of B&C’s lengthy interview with Leno here.

“Leno” is currently NBC’s lowest-rated primetime show. The B&C piece points out that in 18-49 it averaged a 1.6 in its fifth week, but its most recent airings appear to have averaged below the 1.5 level, despite CBS airing repeats of “CSI Miami,” “The Good Wife” and “CSI NY” opposite new episodes of "Leno" on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.

Here’s how “Leno” has been trending in 18-49 (older weeks in parentheses):

1.3 (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.7) (1.8) (5.3) The Jay Leno Show (Mon)
1.8 (1.8) (1.8) (2.1) (2.3) (2.5) (3.4) The Jay Leno Show (Tue)
1.5 (1.5) (1.8) (1.7) (1.9) (2.0) (3.5) The Jay Leno Show (Wed)
1.5 (1.6) (1.8) (1.7) (1.6) (1.7) (2.7) The Jay Leno Show (Thu)
1.2 (1.4) (1.3) (1.4) (1.4) (1.6) (2.2) The Jay Leno Show (Fri)

Friday's 1.2 was the lowest for "Leno" to date.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, “Leno” follows “The Biggest Loser,” “Law & Order SVU” and “30 Rock,” three of NBC’s highest-rated series. On Mondays and Fridays it follows “Trauma” and “Dateline,” two of the network’s least-watched.

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