Mr. Pop History – That is correct. It made a little money with Steve Allen, but after he left – there was no real host – and it lost money. What’s interesting is – local stations were making money with their late night ads – but NBC was not! Then Jack Paar took over in July of 1957 and it began a turnaround. It was called “Tonight” but when Paar took over – the show was named after him. The Johnny Carson era ushered in “The Tonight Show” title.