Jay Leno’s new prime-time comedy show may turn out to be a sweet business proposition for NBC. But it could also be very bad news for NBC’s affiliates.

“The Jay Leno Show,” which debuts Monday at 10 p.m. (special first-night interview: President Obama), isn’t just a five-nights-per-week comedy-and-talk show; it’s a new model for cost-containment in an age of increasingly fickle TV audiences. Leno himself has bragged that an entire week of his show will cost less than a single episode of the dramas that have been in the time slot, such as “Law & Order: SVU” and “ER.”

What’s more, Leno will be hosting new shows 46 weeks of the year, providing about twice as many original programs as NBC’s old drama series combined. So far so good. Now for the bad news: While it’s hard to predict how many people will watch Leno’s show (mostly because the concept hasn’t been tried by a network for decades), hardly anyone expects Leno to attract as many viewers as NBC did in that tim slot last year.

The prospect of fewer viewers every night of the week could have a ripple effect on stations carrying the show.

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