It's Over! NBC to Pay Conan $30M

Conan is worth every penny. Screw NBC! I hope Leno goes down with the ship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l38OycKqKGI

HAHA

My God such crap, this is what really titillates Americas brain? What a sad reality.
Who gives a flying f&*K? The wisest thing to do would be to turn off your TV and turn on your mind. You have become brainwashed penguins flapping a millionaire crybaby's who want gold trimmed pampers.

The only way NBC is going to come out of this whole is to start from scratch. Leno's not going to recover with audiences liking him so much after this debaucle. O'Brien wasn't getting ratings before. Eliminate both. Start a razzle-dazzle new Tonight Show with a fresh look (ie. retro 40ish nightclub). Lure Craig Ferguson to host.

JAY LENO is a self righteous pompous prick. I tried to get on board with him after Johnny Carson...I truly truly tried. But his show is HORRIBLE. The band sucks. His band leader is a freaking joke. He does all these bits that don't make any sense. He is an awful host and I haven't watched his train wreck of a show in years. Then they decide to give new light to the beat up version of The Tonight Show and put Conan on it. That man is talented. He has been a rising star and he deserves his spot on The Tonight Show. And just a few months later they are kicking Conan out the door.

HA!! Eff you NBC. Eff you Jay Leno. Thank God you have The Office or your crappy little company would have nothing. Your shows suck! And now you show just how low you actually are.

Go ahead and put Leno back on...nothing can change the fact that you suck! You peaked with Friends and ER.

JAY LENO is a self righteous pompous prick. I tried to get on board with him after Johnny Carson...I truly truly tried. But his show is HORRIBLE. The band sucks. His band leader is a freaking joke. He does all these bits that don't make any sense. He is an awful host and I haven't watched his train wreck of a show in years. Then they decide to give new light to the beat up version of The Tonight Show and put Conan on it. That man is talented. He has been a rising star and he deserves his spot on The Tonight Show. And just a few months later they are kicking Conan out the door.

HA!! Eff you NBC. Eff you Jay Leno. Thank God you have The Office or your crappy little company would have nothing. Your shows suck! And now you show just how low you actually are.

Go ahead and put Leno back on...nothing can change the fact that you suck! You peaked with Friends and ER.

Me too! I was ignored by NBC. I said Conan was only a wind-bag and was not worth a dime as the host of the Tonight Show. Leno was tops in that time slot for some 15+ years over all comers but I don't think he'll do so well again now that this feud between him, useless Conan and NBC is over. Jay is getting on in age and likely would not be there for too much longer (but Conan was NOT the one) so NBC should be looking at competent and funny people like Ferguson of CBS (as long as he gets better guests) to take over from him after he FINALLY goes, fired or quit.

They have eyes but they can't see. Zucker is an idiot who cannot run a network, Leno is old school and needs to retire, let Conanrun the tonight show. Johnny Carson was the best host but he is gone, he wanted Letterman to take over but the NBC big boys thought they knew better and hired Leno, now he needs to be out and let the rest alone. Leno's the only problem in this debait, fire Leno, problem solved!

Here's a hilarious spoof about Conan's next new deal if he's walking from NBC. We'll be seeing this all over the place soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf3mmrA8ydk

Here it is on funny or die.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf3mmrA8ydk

Jay Leno is a whining old fart who needs to retire...like he said he would.

Conan should let the deal go through and not find employment until the time slot guarantees the payment of the money. It seems he was treated unfairly during NBC's messup. He also seems sincere while speaking with his guests. It is fun to watch his show. I wish him well.

Here's Jay Leno's 2004 announcement that Conan was taking over the Tonight Show.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6d1caacad1/jay-s-2004-announcement

Conan was fabulous for 16 years on his late show which had a show start. 7 months? NBC comes off looking like a bunch of clueless boobs. It seems that Leno is stale and comes off a disastrous attempt at 10:00, Letterman had his time, but now seems mean and old instead of edgy, and Jimmy Kimmel is funny but doesn't have the appeal that Conan has. I bet Conan has the backing, respect and likability of the guests and celebrities who draw in the viewers. Give it a few years and Conan will be back on top. NBC has been making big mistakes lately, and this whole Leno and Conan debacle is the biggest of all. I think history will prove me right.

Can't wait to see the dramedy produced about this. The Leno-Letterman debaucle spawned a movie, and this will, too. Let's see.......Carrot Top for Conan and Jimmy Kimmel for Jay..............????? It will absolutely be funnier than the real thing....

Can't wait to see the dramedy produced about this. The Leno-Letterman debaucle spawned a movie, and this will, too. Let's see.......Carrot Top for Conan and Jimmy Kimmel for Jay..............????? It will absolutely be funnier than the real thing....

Look at all the money that was spent on new sets for both shows. Gee, I wonder if Jay will move over the new Conan digs after he moves out!

NBC's Zucker was told over and over by fans of the Tonight Show not to remove Jay; Conan will ruin the iconic show. So, what lesson did we learn from this Mr. Zucker? A $30M one!!

not sure where the nyt got that figure. since we published yesterday's story, i've spoken to numerous folks on both sides of the deal, and all have confirmed that - within $1 or $2 m - the $30 m is correct.

i am curious why you think the nyt's unnamed executive (one source) is more valid than my unnamed two sources. believe me, when we get this stuff wrong, the phone starts ringing.

perhaps we'll all be smarter tmrw, when an announcement is expected. and as long as i'm writing, i'd like to ask commenters to cut the nastiness; it's unnecessary and unwelcome on this site.

Wow was Sharon Waxman wrong again in her reporting. Maybe she should just let www.FTVLive.com do the reporting and she can just babble on TV about nothing.

Wrong again, Wrap! Says the NY Times, "According to another executive who has been informed of the details of the deal, the settlement will pay Mr. O’Brien more than has been previously reported. Instead of $30 million, the deal will pay him close to $40 million, the executive said."

Guess Nikki had the number correct, but you had it wrong first! That's why we come to the Wrap. All the showbiz news, the first and the worst!

Sharon, why do you perpetually rush to post numbers that are proven wrong? You did the same thing when Finke sold her website -- rather than wait for the facts, you rushed to post an inflated number that boosted Nikki's ego and only served to make people think these dopey websites are worth more than the virtual ink they're written in.

Please go back to Journalism 101 and get the facts, not just the first posting.

How about Ebersol(ZuckerLight) blaming Conan for no-peformance when NBC lost his 10pm news lead-in with their JayDisaster move? Re-write history much Dick?

Let's face facts here. This was never about Leno vs. Conan in the beginning, it was about NBC trying to eliminate the 10pm EST time-slot scripted drama. It was all about cost cutting. CBS and ABC proved that viewers want scripted dramas at 10pm EST not "variety" shows and NBC refused to budge or listen...until now. It's another debacle like the cancellations due to the boneheaded lengthy hiatus a year or two back, the networks admitted screwing up but put the blame on the viewers not coming back on the shows anyways.

Leno will get the Tonight Show and NBC will get competition from whichever network Conan decides to go to. Both men will come out with what they want but NBC will just come out with egg on their face.

This is a response to Ty's comment on the other article regarding this issue, where he states:

["Sick. More and more people are living in poverty and then there are people like these getting payed this kind of money. Its just wrong. There should be a limit as to how much a individual makes in a year. No more than a few million at most. Not 20 or 30 or even 100. Sad."]

Seriously? You think no one should make over 1 or 2 million a year? Who the hell are you to dictate how much someone should make? We live in a Capitalist society that is based on Freedom and self-determination. There is nothing in the world that says I shouldn't make as much as I want. And the same goes for Conan, and the same goes for you.

If you have any hope of the rest of the world getting out of poverty, your own poverty consciousness should stop immediately, or its you and *your* ilk that keep the world poor.

While I agree that Conan has lost all of his edge and is tremendously unfunny on The Tonight Show, I also appreciated the fact that his open letter to NBC regarding his decision to leave specifically started with the fact that he feels his own issues are non-issues to the world at large.

That said, money talks, and corporate big-wigs will only listen if money (BIG money) is on the line. This is not Conan trying to weasel more money out of them. This is his way of making a statement. And good for him, too. And good for all of us.

(And by the way, a Non-Compete clause is totally illegal in California. Not sure how it matters on the National stage, but if NBC tries to pull something like that, we should all sue them).

Wow, you know.. I'm not a big fan of Conan and I believe blame lies on all parties here (mostly on NBC, but over the course of the 5 year affair, Conan and Jay have to shoulder some blame too), but the level of attacks by Dick Ebersol earlier and other "NBC insider" in this article are just disgusting.

I knew they were going to take Jay over Conan, just due to history, but I didn't think they'd stoop so low as to personally attack Conan on this level. I'm afraid if I were Conan and I took the "pay or play" fee, I'd purposely procrastinate the entire duration to get the full 30 million after the spiteful, hateful things Ebersol and these "NBC insiders" said.

I can't even look at the NBC peacock logo without getting nauseated after reading these executive fools insulting a brand that, a year and a half ago, they claimed to love as part of the NBC family. Congrats, Dick, I'll never watch Sunday Night Football again, and I hope you guys lose the rights to the Olympics soon, too. You do a crappy job with the Olympic broadcasts anyway and you can't even make money on them.

I am sure that there is some kind of package being put together for the staff we are just not being told about it since Conan is the face of the whole thing.

I think NBC should just let Conan stay and get Leno out but at this point all those old jackasses like Ebersol have ruined it. NBC will probably start getting stuck by Fey cause I think she is on Conan's side plus she does not mind taking jabs at the network regardless, she has been doing it for awhile now on “30 Rock” (really the only show of NBC's I watch… on Hulu).

SERIOUSLY??!! 30 MIL?? FOR DOING----WHAT? ACTING LIKE AN A-- AND A FOOL? IS HE GOING TO SHARE THAT WITH ANY OF THE BAD OR STAFF THAT HE BROUGHT TO CA. WITH HIM?? GOOD BYE TO THE RED HEADED CREEP!!!! I NEVER LIKED HIM! TALK ABOUT IDIOTS!! HE FITS THE DESCRIPTION.

Still say this is a head fake and it ain't over 'til it's over. Conan, methinks, isn't going anywhere. And Jay gets a weekly hour. Here's why:

If NBC lets Conan out with no non-compete at all, the affils get battered if Conan goes to Fox at 11 OR 11:35 p.m. Why would they make a big payout and still have no non-compete? Makes no business sense. No, this isn't the final deal.

It makes more sense for NBCU to suck it up and keep Conan on Tonight at 11:35, where he's building in the ratings over this possibly contrived "feud" with the NBC suits and with Leno. This is show biz. Ratings and money talk. Conan's starting to build in the ratings, bolstered by this contretemps. and why would NBC saddle a pending sale of the network with a $30 million debit that just isn't necessary?

No, I am sorry, "The Wrap." Conan will stay at NBC, benefit from what will be remembered as more of a publicity stunt than a real controversy, and Jay will be offered a third chance, perhaps as the new Ed Sullivan on a live Sunday night variety hour.

Nice to see Sharon puts a headline of "It's Over" when it's clearly not. Funny how she's quick to deride other journalists and publications but blatantly misleads her readers in order to get clicks.

Conan's getting $30 million from NBC. And he should get another $30 million from whichever idiot dubbed him, "The New King Of Late Night"

Wow, some of your people are pretty daft. Regardless of whether or not you think Conan was funny:

A. Five years ago, Leno promised him the Tonight Show, and that he would retire, in 2009.

B. In order to weasel his way out of retirement, he and NBC concocted The Jay Leno Show.

C. The Jay Leno Show bombed in the ratings, and sunk from 14 millions viewers at its premiere all the way down to 4 million.

D. Conan's overall viewership went up from the average 2 million he was pulling on Late Night.

E. Leno had highly-rated dramas as his lead-in. (Not counting the news)

F. Conan had the sucky Jay Leno Show as his lead-in.

G. Leno's show tanked; Conan's didn't.

H. NBC proposed to breach Conan's contract (which does indeed promise him the 11:35 timeslot, despite their BS) and move him back a half-hour, along with Fallon, thus leaving Carson Daly without a job.

I. Conan refused, siting his contract and the negative impact it would have on the other two late night shows.

J. Jimmy Kimmel owns Leno on his own show. Leno=Idiot

Somehow, all of this adds up to Conan getting paid to go away while the douchebag remains, only to retire within the next few years. Sounds fun.

Using a strike-through font doesn't correct bad reporting on loose leaks. Please get it right before you go to press with your 'exclusive' stories. Thank you.

I can't believe NBC is going to pay this jerk 30 mil. He almost ruined The Tonight Show!

One has to wonder...were the negotiations "funny"?

I'd love to see the behind the scenes "docudrama" on Showtime this fall of all the "behind the scenes" B.S. and posturing that went on with all the suits.

Now we're talkin' HUMOR!

Well, Conan has been griping about unfair it is because he brought his crew and their families out to California to relocate. Let's see if Mr. Family Man gives a nice slice of the settlement pie to those employees he claims to be so concerned about.

Instead of bumping Conan, NBC could have used Leno to rebuild its daytime schedule. Other than Days of Our Lives, what else airs on NBC daytime? Leno could have broadcast live from LA to air anytime between 2pm - 4pm EST. Plenty of room there, no conflicts, problem solved.

Go Conan!!! Conan runs comedy circles around Leno any day. Leno is a whining, condescending, manipulative "person". NBC made the mistake of putting Leno's new show on in the first place let alone putting in a 10:00PM time slot when much of the country's local TV stations go to news coverage and sell local ad time. Leno is the one that had ratings issues. When Leno first started hosting "Tonight", his show slipped from what Carson pulled in the year prior to his retirement. We've known Leno was going to retire since 04 because he announced it on air and made Conan his heir apparent. Leno should not have come back to do a variety show. No one watches those any more, not to mention his format really didn't change that much from when he was doing the "Tonight Show" so why bother retiring in the first place. NBC confirmed guests for Leno that should have been going to the "Tonight Show" regardless of who was hosting. Conan's audience would have grown quite large if given more than 5 months to do so. Maybe if NBC had a better prime time lead in people would still be watching in the first place. I switch channels back and forth depending on who the guests are but once Conan goes, I've got no reason to be on NBC with the exception to 30Rock and maybe SNL when it's a good season. Talk about a show they've had patience with. SNL can go years with a bad cast and they don't cut it, but then every once and a while a great cast comes along and proves that patience right. Should have given Conan time and shown Leno the door... Way to go Comcast...

I've always been a Letterman person and this smacks of the same legal maneuvers that got Leno the "Tonight Show" away from Letterman even though Carson wanted Letterman... Leno should retire and go play with his cars and do a show in Vegas once a year for people that might actually think he's funny... I think Conan should stick it to NBC for everything he can squeeze out of them...

Screw NBC for screwing Conan and for not covering TBDBITL's appearance in the Rose Parade. Their "people" sound creepy and unsavory. There is no compelling reason to watch NBC drivel anymore.

Does nobody think about the staff and bands in all this?

That's a whole lot of people likely loosing jobs while Conan walks away with 30 Mil. Nice.

Again...NICE SCOOP! Love this site!
Both sides have screwed the pooch, and the pooch is Coco. He will land on his feet, but the whole affair smells from the head of the Peacock.

conand jay aren.t worth 2 cents jay is just an nbc kissass and conan while a good writer on air he doesn.t have it he always looks nervous and uncomfortable on the air both should retire from tv

conan was not funny enough for the late night audience. jay leno had no part in nbc’s promise to conan. the tonight show belongs to an older audience. conan was perfect in his old job. i personally, do not like his humor and his awkwardness. the old people will eventually die out and conan can have all the older people that are young now. i think jay is hysterically funny. and intelligent. if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Maybe someone needs to explain to NBC and Leno what the hell the word, "retire" means. Leno walks away from the tonight show to "retire", then comes back with a 10pm show. Maybe the show bombed because he has crappy writers. The Tonight Show will probably never recover from this. Oh well, I hope Conan does well somewhere else, I'll watch him, just like Letterman. He'll manage.

Oh, and nice SCOOP over he Finke!

Not bad for 7 months work! Now how about Zucker and Leno's value to Comcast? Bye bye to the spin & chin!

Where else can someone get paid $30Million for sucking?!

30 million????? Conan isn't worth three bucks! Is it some big mystery why no one watched? He sucks!

o.O Nice settlement for Mr. O'Brien.