NBC confirms O'Brien exit
(CNN) -- The persistent rumors that Conan O'Brien would vacate his "Tonight Show" seat to make room for former host Jay Leno have been confirmed.
"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,' " NBC said in a 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." O'Brien will make his final appearance as host of "The Tonight Show" on Friday.
Although the network had been strangely silent about the deals happening behind the scenes, off-the-record sources have popped up in a number of press reports, leaking details about the difficult negotiations between O'Brien and NBC.
When the news first broke that the Peacock Network was going to nix its failed prime-time talk show experiment and move the "Jay Leno Show" to 11:35, it was clear that O'Brien had a handful of options: he could stay with the network as the host of "The Tonight Show" at 12:05 a.m.; head over to Fox,the only network to openly express interest in O'Brien; or wash his hands of NBC altogether.
O'Brien released a statement last Tuesday telling the "people of Earth" that moving the show to 12:05 a.m. would be against his principles, and that he wouldn't host the show if it had to air at that hour.
NBC, on the other hand, didn't appear to budge on its earlier statement that Leno would kick off the late night roundup at 11:35. At that point, it was evident to industry insiders that it was only a matter of time before O'Brien and NBC reached an agreement that left O'Brien as the odd-host out.
This eventual outcome was heightened when Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports, told the New York Times that it was "chicken-hearted and gutless" for O'Brien to continuously place the blame at Leno's feet in his nightly monologues, when he couldn't beat the guy in ratings.
However, since O'Brien has fallen victim to the domino effect of NBC's prime-time problem, his ratings have been on an upswing, while Leno's have stayed marginally the same.
But perhaps that rise in ratings -- which can easily be attributed to the very public fallout -- seems to be a case of too little, too late.
Last week, NBC executives sat down with O'Brien's team to hash out the contract logistics and determine a settlement, rumored to be in the ballpark of $40 million.
CNN
Posted by:BrownEyedMonkey
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*sigh* I'm gonna miss him so much. I watch him every night. I hope another network picks him up so the laughter can continue!
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Eh... I don't watch either of them, and probably never will. Sucks that they "released him". Sounds like Jay Leno wanted his job back, and they FIRED O'Brien.
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I stora feel bad for him.
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hugs
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But it's sad that Conan has to go under the circumstances. I dislike Jay leno so much...he creeps me out.
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The reason this is such crap is because they made an agreement that everyone was involved in several years ago, agreeing that Leno would step down , and that Conan would get the Tonight Show.
I prefer Jon Stewart over both Leno and O'Brien. I don't think O'Brien is funny and Leno seems like an a-hole.
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Ugh, Leno is a bunch of bull--the man is not funny. Coco was amusing at least.
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