Tag: nbc conan o’brien

Conan O’Brien $45 Million Dollar Deal with NBC Final

NBC announced Thursday they had reached a final deal with Conan O’Brien for $45 million. O’Brien will receive $33 million for his exit as host of The Tonight Show. The rest of the settlement will go to his staff for severance pay and contract buy-outs.

Conan O'Brien (Photo: U.S. Embassy at Helsinki)
Conan O'Brien (Photo: U.S. Embassy at Helsinki)

The deal will allow Jay Leno to resume his former post of 17 years as host of The Tonight Show on March 1st. As part of the deal, Conan O’Brien has been asked not to return to television for eight months. “NBC and Conan O’Brien have reached a resolution of the issues surrounding O’Brien’s contract to host The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” the network said in a press statement Thursday.

“Under terms of an agreement that was signed earlier today, NBC and O’Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O’Brien from his contract, freeing him to pursue other opportunities after September 1, 2010.”

“We’re pleased that Jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed brilliantly and successfully for many years,” said Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment. “He is an enormous talent, a consummate professional and one of the hardest-working performers on television.”

Conan O’Brien will make his last appearance as host of The Tonight Show on Friday.

Frankly, we could do without seeing either one of them on the air for a while. All this media frenzy about the Jay Leno versus Conan O’Brien feud has just left us bored with both of them – and once again astounding by the stupidity of television network executives in general.

>> Previously:  Conan O’Brien Furious Over Jay Leno Late Night Shake Up

Conan O’Brien Furious Over Jay Leno Late Night Shake Up

Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien is reportedly furious over the move of Jay Leno back to late night, which will push his show even later into the wee hours of the morning. NBC announced they would be moving Jay Leno to the 11:35 p.m. slot on the network, shoving The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien to 12:05 a.m.

Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien

Conan O’Brien was allegedly stunned and furious over the announcement his show would be knocked to a later time slot, according to the New York Post. “This level of sh–iness was not expected. He’s done a great job for NBC. He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA,” an unidentified ‘insider’ told the Post. “And five months later, they repay him like this?”

NBC head Jeff Gaspin said the network hopes to keep Leno, O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon all on their late night lineup. They may not get their wish. Conan O’Brien is reportedly in talks to possibly jump to a rival network, according to The Wall Street Journal. Fox, in particular, has reportedly been courting O’Brien heavily for a late night program.

Conan O’Brien’s rep issued a statement saying that the late night comedian “has made no decisions yet” about his future with NBC.

>> Previously:  Jay Leno Moving Back to Late Night