When Jay Leno reclaims “The Tonight Show” on Monday, NBC is banking that the ratings spiral that marked Conan O’Brien’s brief tenure as host will quickly fade to a dim memory. If viewers want to dwell on the messy dithering that led to this point - Leno moved to prime-time, NBC affiliates rebelling at his low ratings, O’Brien balking at NBC’s directive that he and “Tonight” shift to midnight, O’Brien exiting and leaving a diminished audience behind - the network is focused on the end result. With the Winter Olympics providing a big platform, NBC aired a promotional spot advising that “the chin” was back. Another spot had Leno breezing down a coastal highway in a snazzy convertible that shed the number “10” for “11:35.” It cast him as a happy traveler headed home, back where he belongs, after a misadventure not even worth a postcard. Lisa Howfield, general manager of NBC affiliate KVBC in Las Vegas, thinks Leno’s fans will be right behind him.

“I suspect he’ll get the same numbers (ratings) he had in prime-time, which are the same numbers he had in late-night. ... I think it’s probably going to get right back into normal viewing patterns,” Howfield said.