Conan's Exit Confirmed

[gldstwmn]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-01-14/conans-exit-confirmed/?cid=sexybeast:mainpromo1
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.

[HejiraNYC]

What I wonder... is what the heck is NBC going to plug into the 10PM weeknight timeslot now? That's five hours of programming that they're going to have to create in no time flat. I think they need to put Chris Hanson to work and do five nights/week of "Dateline NBC - To Catch a Predator." :thumbsup: I swear... I could watch that stuff all day and never get bored.

[FMlex]

What I wonder... is what the heck is NBC going to plug into the 10PM weeknight timeslot now? That's five hours of programming that they're going to have to create in no time flat. I think they need to put Chris Hanson to work and do five nights/week of "Dateline NBC - To Catch a Predator." :thumbsup: I swear... I could watch that stuff all day and never get bored.

NBC has already announced the lineup.

New drama "Parenthood"
Relocated "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: SVU"
"The Marriage Ref" (produced by Jerry Seinfeld)
"Dateline NBC"

The new lineup is going to debut after the coverage of the Olympics.

[skcin]

NBC really f*cked up, IMO. They should have just let Leno go in the first place. Your contract is up? Thanks for the memories, good luck. So is he going to be back as host of the Tonight Show now? :rolleyes: Whatever.

I love Conan, hope someone picks him up soon (although I can't see CBS dumping Fergusson or ABC dumping Kimmel, nor do I think they should.) Maybe Fox wants a late night show again?

[trackaghost]

NBC really f*cked up, IMO. They should have just let Leno go in the first place. Your contract is up? Thanks for the memories, good luck. So is he going to be back as host of the Tonight Show now? :rolleyes: Whatever.

I love Conan, hope someone picks him up soon (although I can't see CBS dumping Fergusson or ABC dumping Kimmel, nor do I think they should.) Maybe Fox wants a late night show again?

I totally agree! But you know who I think is the real bastard in all this? Leno. He retired from The Tonight Show, he gave it up, he passed it on to Conan. When his own show did poorly and he was offered this new time slot, this "new" Tonight Show, he should have just said no but he really f*cked Conan over, imo.

[HejiraNYC]

I totally agree! But you know who I think is the real bastard in all this? Leno. He retired from The Tonight Show, he gave it up, he passed it on to Conan. When his own show did poorly and he was offered this new time slot, this "new" Tonight Show, he should have just said no but he really f*cked Conan over, imo.

My recollection is that Leno wanted to continue doing the Tonight Show, but was pushed out of the slot in order for NBC to appease Coco. I don't think Leno effed anyone over. Rather, NBC effed them both.

[HejiraNYC]

NBC has already announced the lineup.

New drama "Parenthood"
Relocated "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: SVU"
"The Marriage Ref" (produced by Jerry Seinfeld)
"Dateline NBC"

The new lineup is going to debut after the coverage of the Olympics.

Sounds like NBC 10PM is going from bad to worse. At least in NY we have the option of catching a re-airing of "The Wendy Williams Show" at 10 on WOR. :thumbsup: Who doesn't like some trashy, mindless, tranny-licious fun before bedtime?

[trackaghost]

My recollection is that Leno wanted to continue doing the Tonight Show, but was pushed out of the slot in order for NBC to appease Coco. I don't think Leno effed anyone over. Rather, NBC effed them both.

To be fair though, Leno gets to go back to what he always wanted to do then. I still think he should have passed on it and moved on, I really do.

[HejiraNYC]

To be fair though, Leno gets to go back to what he always wanted to do then. I still think he should have passed on it and moved on, I really do.

Yes, Leno gets to go back to where he wants to be. However, the whole fiasco was handled so poorly by NBC. It's only been seven months; I don't think they gave this situation enough time to work. Also, I think the Leno show should have been completely gutted and rebuilt from the ground up. Personally I think it should have been more of a Variety Hour than yet another vanilla chat show. And make it edgier. Make it more interactive. Feature some new unknown acts and interesting performers. I think that is what made talent shows like X Factor or AI such huge hits- the possibility of the unknown. The chat show format works fine if you're competing with nothing but chat shows. But in primetime, you gotta bring ya A-game.

[Zombie]

What I wonder... is what the heck is NBC going to plug into the 10PM weeknight timeslot now? That's five hours of programming that they're going to have to create in no time flat. I think they need to put Chris Hanson to work and do five nights/week of "Dateline NBC - To Catch a Predator." :thumbsup: I swear... I could watch that stuff all day and never get bored.

http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/vv335/nowgozombiego/chrishansen.gif

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[trackaghost]

Pretty funny, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Leno should have said no. It's amusing to watch him squirm.
<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=FpOWU1MTqUnp3MxPSvk1EoWmBOYoaRmS&height=358&width=480"></script>

[Ghost_Tracker]

i.m.o. the "Conan Leaving" story should be taken with a grain of salt. :blob2: I think it's just a rumor at this point. I just did a pretty thorough google search for it, and there's NOTHING saying he's leaving; including under the "News" links.

Don't get me wrong, I think there's very high possibility that he WILL leave, but i.m.o. these are still just ......

http://www.vinylsurrender.com/Graphics/AlbumCovers2/Fleetwood%20Mac%20-%20Rumours.jpg

[Ghost_Tracker]

By the way, I've been starting to wonder if the networks need to really be thinking about Letterman retiring, as far as their long-term plans. After all, he started dropping hints about it years ago...

I remember not so long ago, Letterman asked Paul Reiser how he spent his weekend and Reiser told him. And then Letterman goes, "Oh yeah? . . . I spent my weekend all alone in my kitchen starting at the floor tiles, contemplating the sheer vacuity and emptiness of my existence and trying to figure out what the hell to do with the rest of my life and how to find a way to make myself actually useful to humanity..."

(Something along those general lines.) He was making a joke, of course, but then again . . . .

[HejiraNYC]

By the way, I've been starting to wonder if the networks need to really be thinking about Letterman retiring, as far as their long-term plans. After all, he started dropping hints about it years ago...

I remember not so long ago, Letterman asked Paul Reiser how he spent his weekend and Reiser told him. And then Letterman goes, "Oh yeah? . . . I spent my weekend all alone in my kitchen starting at the floor tiles, contemplating the sheer vacuity and emptiness of my existence and trying to figure out what the hell to do with the rest of my life and how to find a way to make myself actually useful to humanity..."

(Something along those general lines.) He was making a joke, of course, but then again . . . .

I think the end of Letterman was when he had to shut down his upstairs p^$$^ palace. :eek: Without that, why bother going to work? :shrug:

[LukeA]

i.m.o. the "Conan Leaving" story should be taken with a grain of salt. :blob2: I think it's just a rumor at this point. I just did a pretty thorough google search for it, and there's NOTHING saying he's leaving; including under the "News" links.

He's gone. He accepted a $30M buyout today.

[vermicious knid]

Howard Stern has always disdained Jay Leno. Rosie O'Donnell has no love for him either.
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[Zombie]

Howard Stern has always disdained Jay Leno. Rosie O'Donnell has no love for him either.

I myself disdain Jay Leno. He's always struck me as a giant doucherocket, whereas Conan comes off as rather affable and easy to talk to during interviews, etc. So I will watch Conan's show when I remember to, and I actually watched several episodes of The Tonight Show for the first time in years and years, just because he was there instead of Leno.

[bucklind17]

What's interesting about this to me is that I don't know a single person who prefers Leno to Conan. All anyone is buzzing about is "team Conan", there's no "team Leno", there's no one hoping that Leno prevail and stay on the air, there's no one lamenting the possibility of Leno going away from our TV screens. Everything I see is pro-Conan. I don't know if it's because of the way this came about, if it's the websites I check, the people I follow on Twitter, etc. but it seems to me it would have been in the best interest of the (struggling) network to keep Conan on the air and buy out Leno because who is going to watch Leno after all of this? If ratings is really the issue, it's not like Leno is going to have higher ratings with all of this going down. Both of their ratings were low and down but this sure isn't going to make LENO's go up. Conan's, yes. Leno's, no.

[CreepingDeath]

Craig Ferguson :woohoo:

[gldstwmn]

I think the end of Letterman was when he had to shut down his upstairs p^$$^ palace. :eek: Without that, why bother going to work? :shrug:

:laugh: That's right. If work can't be fun then the hell with it.

[gldstwmn]

Craig Ferguson :woohoo:

I just finished his book. He's a funny guy and his show is good to. That said, in this situation, I'm Team Coco.

[vermicious knid]

http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-way-we-were-part-ii-jay-leno-announces-handover-to-conan-in-2004/

[Zombie]

Letterman keeps ranting about NBC and the Conan/Leno thing, and this one made me laugh:

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"You can't be walking around stupid and expect to be invited to parties!"

A+, would lol again.

[wheart]

wow...sad end for Conan and NBC but perhaps he's on to bigger and brighter things, although you don't get much bigger than The Tonight Show.I don't blame him for not going along with NBC's little scheme. It's like they gave him a promotion and then took it back. I always thought the guy was really funny!

Good Luck Conan!

[HejiraNYC]

wow...sad end for Conan and NBC but perhaps he's on to bigger and brighter things, although you don't get much bigger than The Tonight Show.I don't blame him for not going along with NBC's little scheme. It's like they gave him a promotion and then took it back. I always thought the guy was really funny!

Good Luck Conan!

Oh please. Clearly NBC is at fault for making some stupid decisions. But Conan could have still continued on the Tonight Show at 12:05 (which is more like the "Tomorrow Show" technically). And it's not like Conan was slaying Letterman in the ratings. But Conan's ego just would not stand for it. On the one hand, I can sympathize with bruised egos and the feeling of being betrayed. On the other hand, regardless of the timeslot, if he stayed he would still be at the helm of the most legendary of TV institutions, and his crew would continue to be employed. For all we know, Leno at 11:35 could have boosted the Tonight Show to #1 in the timeslot, which would have been a win-win situation all around. Sure, I suppose someone will pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Conan... but it's just not going to be the same.

[Ghost_Tracker]

Oh please. Clearly NBC is at fault for making some stupid decisions. But Conan could have still continued on the Tonight Show at 12:05 (which is more like the "Tomorrow Show" technically). And it's not like Conan was slaying Letterman in the ratings. .


Letterman's ratings got a HUGE boost because of The Scandal. So much so that it made me wonder if the whole thing was a put-on.
Remember, the woman involved was an ex-NBC employee.
It's not like there isn't a history of this. Both Letterman and Madonna eventually admitted that the whole thing with her repeatedly cursing on the air was a pre-planned publicity stunt.
This "scandal" is the best thing that ever happened to Letterman's ratings! :rolleyes: Personally, I feel that Conan would have "held his own" against Letterman, over the long-term.

[LukeA]

Letterman's ratings got a HUGE boost because of The Scandal.

Not really. It got a bump, but by Thanksgiving/Tiger Woods (AKA, 4-6 weeks), the ratings had leveled off.

Remember, the woman involved was an ex-NBC employee.

The woman in the middle of the extortion attempt (Stephanie Birkitt) is a Worldwide Pants employee. The man accused of extortion (Robert "Joe" Halderman) was a CBS employee at the time. Nothing to do with NBC.

It's not like there isn't a history of this. Both Letterman and Madonna eventually admitted that the whole thing with her repeatedly cursing on the air was a pre-planned publicity stunt.

I recall Madonna saying it was planned, but I don't remember Dave admitting or acknowledging anything. He's never suggested or intimated that he was anything other than mortified.

This "scandal" is the best thing that ever happened to Letterman's ratings! :rolleyes: Personally, I feel that Conan would have "held his own" against Letterman, over the long-term.

Again, not so much. Within a month taking over the Tonight Show (and four months prior to the extortion attempt- no "quotation marks" needed for an alleged crime punishable by 15 years in prison), Conan had lost over half of Leno's audience totals.

[jannieC]

Letterman keeps ranting about NBC and the Conan/Leno thing, and this one made me laugh:

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"You can't be walking around stupid and expect to be invited to parties!"

A+, would lol again.

"...the mouth breathers" LOL.

[Ghost_Tracker]

Not really. It got a bump, but by Thanksgiving/Tiger Woods (AKA, 4-6 weeks), the ratings had leveled off.



The woman in the middle of the extortion attempt (Stephanie Birkitt) is a Worldwide Pants employee. The man accused of extortion (Robert "Joe" Halderman) was a CBS employee at the time. Nothing to do with NBC.




I meant to say "CBS" - I mis-spoke. :sorry:

Anyway the main point I was trying to convey is that I feel that Conan O'Brien could hold his own against Letterman over the long-term.

[JWS]

Just wondering...will there ever be a female host of the Tonight Show? Joan Rivers had her own late night show that bombed. She was once a regular fill-in for Johnny.

Could Oprah make it at night?

[skcin]

Just wondering...will there ever be a female host of the Tonight Show? Joan Rivers had her own late night show that bombed. She was once a regular fill-in for Johnny.

Could Oprah make it at night?

A female in general? Maybe. Oprah? Hell no. People want light humor at night, with comedians as hosts. They don't want to be lectured at. :woohoo:

[FMlex]

Love you long time, Coco!

:distress:

[HejiraNYC]

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/conan-obrien-will-do-a-late-night-show-on-tbs/?ref=business

Conan O’Brien Will Do a Late-Night Show on TBS
By BILL CARTER



Conan O’Brien has agreed to start a new late-night show on TBS.
In a move that qualifies as a shocker, Conan O’Brien has made a deal to return to television in a new late-night show on cable — not network — television.

The former “Tonight Show” host has agreed to start a new show on TBS, the comedy-oriented cable channel in the Turner network lineup. The show will start in November and play at 11 p.m. weeknights, teamed with that network’s other late-night show, hosted by George Lopez. That show, now at 11, will slide to midnight.

The news comes as a stunner because Mr. O’Brien was known to be in talks with the Fox network, and most predictions had him moving there in September or January.

TBS was not known to be in the picture. But Mr. O’Brien’s representatives had been quietly talking with that cable network as issues continued to arise with the potential Fox deal.

The move will surely be closely examined for its implications for the future of broadcast vs. cable television, with one of the biggest stars of recent years in network television abandoning that side for cable.

In a release accompanying the announcement Mr. O’Brien said: “In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.”

Mr. O’Brien begins his live concert tour in Eugene, Ore., Monday night.

In the statement, Steve Koonin, the president of Turner Entertainment Networks, emphasized the change from network to cable.

“For decades, late-night TV has been dominated by broadcast television,” Mr. Koonin said. “Now, with a young audience and a growing late-night lineup, TBS is set to be the choice of comedy fans for years to come.”

[LukeA]

I think this could be a very good move. FOX was always going to be an uphill battle, getting clearances from all the affiliates, and cable is the place to be if you're targeting/skewing younger.

I'm off to Eugene for the show tonight! Should be interesting to hear what Conan might say about it.

[Erin]

I wish his show would start 30 minutes later, now he's going to conflict with Chelsea Lately! Why Coco, why?

[seekerj]

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/conan-obrien-will-do-a-late-night-show-on-tbs/?ref=business

Conan O’Brien Will Do a Late-Night Show on TBS
By BILL CARTER



Conan O’Brien has agreed to start a new late-night show on TBS.
In a move that qualifies as a shocker, Conan O’Brien has made a deal to return to television in a new late-night show on cable — not network — television.

The former “Tonight Show” host has agreed to start a new show on TBS, the comedy-oriented cable channel in the Turner network lineup. The show will start in November and play at 11 p.m. weeknights, teamed with that network’s other late-night show, hosted by George Lopez. That show, now at 11, will slide to midnight.
The news comes as a stunner because Mr. O’Brien was known to be in talks with the Fox network, and most predictions had him moving there in September or January.

TBS was not known to be in the picture. But Mr. O’Brien’s representatives had been quietly talking with that cable network as issues continued to arise with the potential Fox deal.

The move will surely be closely examined for its implications for the future of broadcast vs. cable television, with one of the biggest stars of recent years in network television abandoning that side for cable.

In a release accompanying the announcement Mr. O’Brien said: “In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.”

Mr. O’Brien begins his live concert tour in Eugene, Ore., Monday night.

In the statement, Steve Koonin, the president of Turner Entertainment Networks, emphasized the change from network to cable.

“For decades, late-night TV has been dominated by broadcast television,” Mr. Koonin said. “Now, with a young audience and a growing late-night lineup, TBS is set to be the choice of comedy fans for years to come.”

OH! So he had a problem with NBC doing this to him in order to bring Jay Leno back, but he has no problem with TBS doing the same thing to George Lopez in order to bring him in. What an ass.

[LukeA]

OH! So he had a problem with NBC doing this to him in order to bring Jay Leno back, but he has no problem with TBS doing the same thing to George Lopez in order to bring him in. What an ass.

Not exactly.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/how-the-conan-obrien-tbs-deal-happened/?src=busln

[HejiraNYC]

As much as I like CoCo, I have been annoyed by the natural presumption that everyone under the sun, especially FOX, would be falling over themselves for his show. As it turned out, FOX went about this rather half-heartedly. At the end of the day, they had to ask themselves whether they could compete against the other networks with new programming and make more money than the current 11PM shows. They probably came to the conclusion that re-runs of Seinfeld and The Office were much better for the bottom line.

TBS gives me the creeps. Ted Turner gives me the creeps. Tyler Perry gives me the creeps. As far as I'm concerned, TBS is kind of a damaged brand, especially as it relates to new, original programming. Perhaps being the "Home of CoCo" will give them a serious boost of cred. :shrug:

[hayley]

Not exactly.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/how-the-conan-obrien-tbs-deal-happened/?src=busln

Thanks for linking this, great article.

I'm sure George Lopez is only too happy to have an actual lead-in for his show, instead of creepy Tyler Perry reruns.