NBC Considering Moving Back Leno, Conan and Fallon

[EmpireWF]

Well, that tidbit is something i've only seen from CNN. So I assume it's still a puzzle.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aK6FTceavxDw&pos=4

The U.S. network plans to return Leno to a half-hour weeknight slot at 11:35 p.m. and shift “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” a half-hour later to 12:05 a.m., Jeff Gaspin, NBC Universal co-chairman of television and entertainment, said today at a television critics meeting in Pasadena, California. The changes would take effect after the Vancouver Olympics.

With the planned shift, “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” would start at 1:05 a.m., Gaspin said. Leno is working on a half-hour show, he said. NBC will put him on hiatus during its broadcast of the Winter Olympic Games, which run from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28. Gaspin said he hopes O’Brien, 46, will stay.

And this is from the St. Louis Post Dispatch

If O'Brien accepts the move, his show will still be called "The Tonight Show," Gaspin said. Details about what a 10:35 p.m. Leno show would look like haven't been considered yet.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/en...C3A567D471CBAE6A862576A700750C40?OpenDocument

 

[Marley]

The goal is to keep all three hosts, but nothing was a done deal as of Sunday, he said.
O'Brien took over NBC's flagship "Tonight Show" when Leno moved to the 10 p.m. slot in September. Fallon took over O'Brien's former show, "Late Night." Gaspin said the new plan is for Leno to take over a shortened "Tonight Show," with O'Brien moving back to "Late Night" at midnight and Fallon hosting a new show at 1 a.m.

The U.S. network plans to return Leno to a half-hour weeknight slot at 11:35 p.m. and shift “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” a half-hour later to 12:05 a.m., Jeff Gaspin, NBC Universal co-chairman of television and entertainment, said today at a television critics meeting in Pasadena, California. The changes would take effect after the Vancouver Olympics. With the planned shift, “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” would start at 1:05 a.m., Gaspin said. Leno is working on a half-hour show, he said. NBC will put him on hiatus during its broadcast of the Winter Olympic Games, which run from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28. Gaspin said he hopes O’Brien, 46, will stay.

If O'Brien accepts the move, his show will still be called "The Tonight Show," Gaspin said. Details about what a 10:35 p.m. Leno show would look like haven't been considered yet.

Seems to me as though Gaspin has no idea what the fuck he's saying.

CNN could be wrong, but I see no difference in it as I doubt Conan would stay on NBC since Leno has pulled this on him twice.

Jay Leno is the Brett Favre of late night television.

 

[Sean]

i feel Conan will leave NBC, Leno will go back to the tonight show, Fallon gets a new time and suddenly Carson Daly actually gets viewers

 

[dj_morton]

Sad sad. Aslong as Conan still have a show, I'll be happy. Damn Leno.

 

[JBauerisGod]

This pisses me off. NBC did all this to keep Conan from jumping ship five years ago, and in the end it seems like he'll leave regardless.

And NBC wonders why they are in last place among the networks...

 

[DJ Fog]

I can't see any scenario where Carson Daly would actually get any viewers, no matter what happens.

This guy is really the worst late night host i've ever seen.

I've watched it maybe 3-4 times, and is it just me or does he seem like he's super jittery like he's loaded up on coke and X or something

 

[IamMedellin]

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[Sean]

it appears Conan is leaving NBC

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/just_call_him_conan_flyin_ThND8Mdv5MI5Pv8udof1LJ

 

[MrBill]

it appears Conan is leaving NBC

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/just_call_him_conan_flyin_ThND8Mdv5MI5Pv8udof1LJ

If Fox ever wanted to truly have a late night show, this would be their chance. Conan has been incredibly loyal to NBC even when he had other opportunities 5 years ago but he stayed with NBC on the promise that he had the Tonight Show. He's been hamstrung since the start there, announcing him taking over the show but then putting Leno on the air before him and splitting the Tonight Show audience. Only Letterman has benefited from that.

 

[Sean]

if he went to Fox, it would be kind of a reunion, The Simpsons really made him good

 

[EmpireWF]

Story about what Conan stands to gain financially from any potential decision.

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/zwecker/1984050,CST-NWS-zwecker11.article

Don't cry for Conan: He could cash in
'TONIGHT' | O'Brien 'stands to be paid a very hefty bonus'

While on the face of it, Conan O'Brien's professional future may look very challenged, several broadcast sources said Sunday that the late-night host and comic could end up having the last laugh.

O'Brien has yet to weigh in on the peacock network's announcement it was canceling Jay Leno's prime-time program and hoping O'Brien would accept being bumped back to follow Leno's return to the 10:35 p.m. time slot.

However, a major NBC player said Sunday, ''If Conan plays ball, swallows his pride -- which certainly is not easy -- and accepts a return to the later slot, he stands to be paid a very hefty bonus in return.''

From the network's standpoint, paying O'Brien several million more dollars annually still would be preferable to being forced to pay the TV personality an estimated $20 million per year for the remaining four years on his contract, and have him do nothing.

Reportedly, even if O'Brien did agree to jump to Fox or ABC -- as have been floated as serious possibilities -- NBC still would have to shell out any differential that might remain between O'Brien's new contract and his old NBC deal.

For example, if Fox or ABC paid him $15 million annually, NBC reportedly would still be obligated to pay him an added $5 million to fulfill the terms of his NBC contract.

A source very close to O'Brien, who requested anonymity Sunday, said, ''Conan is extremely upset about all this, and how the news leaked out and how it has been handled by NBC -- so far. While he understands Jay's show hasn't worked, he thinks he's being made the fall guy,'' even though O'Brien's own ratings performance in the "Tonight Show" time slot has been very disappointing.

 

[Sean]

yea i heard it was something like $80 million dollars his contract

if you go to tmz.com, they have a contract game, so stupid, but funny at the same time, kinda like Conan

 

[DJ Fog]

Man, and people bitch about athletes making too much money.

 

[EmpireWF]

Patton Oswalt on Leno and Conan shakeup (audio)
The brilliant Patton Oswalt gives a comedian's analysis of the Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien shakeup.

Bit of a rambling audio interview, but there's some good bits here. Oswalt's basic thrust is that comedians are frustrated with Leno because, for all his success, he doesn't do anything interesting with his platform.

"You almost want to take [Leno] aside and ask him: Why do you want this so badly?" said Oswalt. "Because you don't do anything with it. Whereas Conan clearly wants the show because there's things he's dying to do with his writing staff and places he wants to take the show ... Conan's way better than he was at 12:30 p.m., so [NBC] keep your hands off."

http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/01/patton-oswalt-on-leno-and-conan-shakeup-audio.html

 

[JBauerisGod]

Here's what Conan should do:

1.) Tell NBC to fuck off and leave.
2.) Take a show with FOX or ABC or hell even a cable show.
3.) Only require FOX/whoever to pay you two million a year. That way NBC has to pay the difference in contracts (18 million a year) just so Conan can steal ratings away from Leno.

After how badly NBC screwed him over, he shouldn't feel bad at all for doing something like this.

 

[Sean]

LOS ANGELES – Conan O'Brien says he's rejecting NBC's attempt to move "The Tonight Show" to a post-midnight slot to accommodate Jay Leno's return to late-night. In a statement Tuesday, O'Brien says that NBC has given him a scant seven months to try to establish himself as host of "Tonight."

NBC wants to move "The Jay Leno Show" out of prime-time and to the 11:35 p.m. EST daily slot, bumping "Tonight" to 12:05 p.m. EST.

O'Brien said he hoped he and NBC could resolve the issue quickly so he could do a show of which he and his crew could be proud — "for a company that values our work" — raising the possibility he might go to another network. But he said he has no such offer.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/tv_us_leno_o_brien


FOX!!!

 

[EmpireWF]

Conan's statement on the whole situation

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

 

[MrBill]

Good for Conan for sticking up for himself. He's funnier than Leno to me but I know that doesn't matter to NBC :laugh:

 

[JBauerisGod]

Conebone has been on fire the last two nights. He also seemingly has the entire late night world on his side too. Kimmel is playing as Jay Leno tonight, complete with the hair, the band, his voice, and even the chin. It's AWESOME.

 

[MVP1991]

LMAO at Kimmel.

Shit is funny