Conan O’Brien making Departure Deal with NBC
There has been more than a lot of speculation as to what the future holds for the The Tonight Show and its host Conan O’Brien since NBC decided to change their lineup and put Jay Leno back at 11:30pm after much dissatisfaction from network affiliates over the show’s ratings in the 10pm time slot. However, now it looks as though O’Brien, after having promises to him broken by the network multiple times, will be leaving NBC after only being the host of the show for 7 months.
Media sources are reporting that O’Brien and NBC have been working on a departure deal that will see the host get from $30 to $40 million. However, O’Brien will not be pocketing all the money for himself, as much of it will go to his staff and the show’s crew. He has even insisted that his staff be taken care of, no mater what happens.
Now that O’Brien will be leaving the show, it’s imminent that NBC will give the 11:35pm time slot and the job of host on The Tonight Show back to Leno. It’s understood that O’Brien will host his last show on Friday, January 22, just before the program takes a break.
The upside to all of this is that O’Brien will be able to work for another network as soon as next Fall, which will give him the opportunity to work with people who won’t break their promises. It’s slated that he will go to Fox, who has publicly expressed their interest in having him on their network, and it’s anticipated he will do it as soon as he can since his whole staff is out of a job now.
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