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6:20 pm - 01/15/2010
The late-night nightmare is almost over. Conan O’Brien is leaving NBC and receiving a payout—and he’ll be free to appear on another network before his contract expires, Kim Masters reports.
The NBC-Leno-Conan war is close to ending, according to a knowledgeable source. According to the outlines of a settlement, Conan O'Brien will leave NBC and the network will make an as-yet unspecified payment. The comedian will be free to appear elsewhere on television well before his contract expires, despite earlier threats from NBC that it would prevent him from working anywhere else.
There is still opportunity for the negotiation to fall apart, but clearly, at this point it is in NBC's interest to put an end to this dismal episode.
It seems that Ron Meyer, the affable chief of the Universal film studio, played a key role in bringing the parties together when they were at an impasse and talks had broken down. Meyer is a former agent whose industry relationships run deep and wide. And of course, he has lots of negotiating experience.
According to the source, the resolution to the epic and highly public battle came down primarily to the size of the check that NBC would write to O'Brien. That amount remains shrouded in mystery for now, and no doubt the parties will have to agree to confidentiality as part of the deal.
According to a knowledgeable insider, NBC Universal started out sincerely hoping that it would be able to keep O'Brien on NBC in a 12:05 a.m. slot behind Leno, who is to be reinstated at 11:35 p.m. Part of the resolution was getting executives there to understand that the plan simply was unrealistic.
At that point, with late-night comics across the television landscape piling on night after night—and with Leno being increasingly vilified and undoubtedly chafing at the public lashing he was getting—it was obvious that the situation had to be resolved.
It remains unclear where O'Brien might go next. The most obvious place is Fox, but top executives at the company have been scrupulous about avoiding any appearance that they tried to lure O'Brien there while his relationship with NBC remained unresolved. Should Fox go forward with a late-night show with O'Brien now, it will take months before he would be ready to go on the air.
I know this is another late-night post, but this seems pretty final.
TL;DR - Conan is leaving NBC, Leno will return to The Tonight Show, Conan is free to go to another network if he chooses.
Source
HuffPo is reporting the story, too
Conan's Exit Confirmed, Leaving NBC with a Payout
The late-night nightmare is almost over. Conan O’Brien is leaving NBC and receiving a payout—and he’ll be free to appear on another network before his contract expires, Kim Masters reports.
The NBC-Leno-Conan war is close to ending, according to a knowledgeable source. According to the outlines of a settlement, Conan O'Brien will leave NBC and the network will make an as-yet unspecified payment. The comedian will be free to appear elsewhere on television well before his contract expires, despite earlier threats from NBC that it would prevent him from working anywhere else.
There is still opportunity for the negotiation to fall apart, but clearly, at this point it is in NBC's interest to put an end to this dismal episode.
It seems that Ron Meyer, the affable chief of the Universal film studio, played a key role in bringing the parties together when they were at an impasse and talks had broken down. Meyer is a former agent whose industry relationships run deep and wide. And of course, he has lots of negotiating experience.
According to the source, the resolution to the epic and highly public battle came down primarily to the size of the check that NBC would write to O'Brien. That amount remains shrouded in mystery for now, and no doubt the parties will have to agree to confidentiality as part of the deal.
According to a knowledgeable insider, NBC Universal started out sincerely hoping that it would be able to keep O'Brien on NBC in a 12:05 a.m. slot behind Leno, who is to be reinstated at 11:35 p.m. Part of the resolution was getting executives there to understand that the plan simply was unrealistic.
At that point, with late-night comics across the television landscape piling on night after night—and with Leno being increasingly vilified and undoubtedly chafing at the public lashing he was getting—it was obvious that the situation had to be resolved.
It remains unclear where O'Brien might go next. The most obvious place is Fox, but top executives at the company have been scrupulous about avoiding any appearance that they tried to lure O'Brien there while his relationship with NBC remained unresolved. Should Fox go forward with a late-night show with O'Brien now, it will take months before he would be ready to go on the air.
I know this is another late-night post, but this seems pretty final.
TL;DR - Conan is leaving NBC, Leno will return to The Tonight Show, Conan is free to go to another network if he chooses.
Source
HuffPo is reporting the story, too
CONAN IS A.... ROCKER-NAN.
(What rhymes with Conan? lol).
Oh.
I just wish they'd get whatever they are going to do over with *already* so I don't have to hear about it everywhere every five fucking minutes.
Edited at 2010-01-15 11:29 pm (UTC)
SKIP IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT IT.
because you're in the minority.
not hating, just asking that you respect other people's right to read about this, just like people respect your right to hate on this topic (not conan personally, but the whole thing).
WIN!!!!!!!
He and Leno had their shows edited down and on at the weekend in previous years. They always used to edit Conan's monologue on the saturday but leave Jay Leno's in. My dislike of Leno is longstanding.
but I totally dig Craig Ferguson.
this is the most boring controversy ever
THIS IS CRAP. But at least they're not trying to fuck him over with the contract and stuff.
and then i tried to imagine dorothy saying this and it was even better