He is the most accomplished “Upward Failer” in the history of man.

Leno and NBC argue that his cost-efficient show is priced to turn a profit even at a 1.5 rating among 18-49-year-olds, but the numbers have dipped below even that low threshold.

A late October report in Advertising Age suggested NBC has only been able to charge on average less than $60,000 per 30-second spot on “Leno,” half what CBS has been getting for rookie drama “The Good Wife” and a quarter what ABC demands for “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Then there is what Bill Carter and others have been calling “the Leno effect.” The New York Times television columnist and author of “The Late Shift” (the book on the Leno/David Letterman toss up over “Tonight”) said Leno’s low 10 p.m. score has hurt NBC’s entire schedule.

“They had to move ‘Law & Order: SVU’ to 9 o’clock to accommodate ‘Leno,’” Carter said. “That was a time period-winning show for many years and it’s finishing last at 9 o’clock. Now they’ve got a fourth-place show.”

So, maybe yes and maybe no –but I’m no longer nearly as sure that Comcast will be looking to get rid of NBC and the OandOs as quickly as humanly possible.