How Fusty TBS Is Selling Conan O'Brien

Bloomberg / BusinessWeek

The cable network is courting a Web-savvy audience for its offbeat new headliner with a marketing quirk-fest

How do you reinvigorate a populist comedy uprising that's settled into a complacent lull? Try hiring a blimp, tricking it out with interactive Internet gadgets, and flying it across country. Or perhaps hire a man in a taco suit to dance in front of a live Web cam. Maybe even stuff a stunt car full of popcorn and fireworks and drive it off a cliff.

Conan O'Brien and his new bosses at the Atlanta-based cable network TBS have tried all those stunts—and more—in recent weeks as part of an all-out marketing push to reignite interest in O'Brien's imminent migration to one of the less-edgy networks on cable. The target of this marketing quirkfest is potential viewers, particularly those who frequent Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Being the late-night headliner at TBS, the erstwhile "Superstation" that was long the purveyor of I Love Lucy reruns and the television home of the Atlanta Braves, is a bit of a comedown from O'Brien's former chair at NBC's (GE) The Tonight Show, the top comedic venue on broadcast TV. That perch brought household-name status to the likes of Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, and Jay Leno—and steady profits to the coffers of the Peacock Network for decades. But in today's fragmented media market, comedians such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who appear on Viacom's (VIA.B) Comedy Central, have shown that the big broadcast networks no longer have a lock on late-night eyeballs.

TBS, which according to The Daily Beast is paying O'Brien $10 million to $15 million annually, is betting it can get similar results from the red-headed comic's 11 p.m. nightly show, Conan, which makes its debut on Nov. 8. "Conan is arguably the biggest broadcast celebrity to come to cable," says Steve Koonin, president of Time Warner's (TWC) Turner Entertainment Networks, which include TNT and TBS. "You look at a lot of networks—they have good shows, but they don't mean something. I'm not talking ratings; I'm talking identity. By aligning with Conan, it gives us an identity that instantly equals comedy, which is what we're trying to be. We think Conan is one of the best brand enhancers in all of television."

O'Brien and longtime sidekick Andy Richter have been on TV hiatus since January when, amid lackluster ratings, NBC executives cut short O'Brien's brief tenure as The Tonight Show's host. The nasty public parting, which cost NBC an exit package estimated to be worth roughly $45 million, touched off a frenzied public backlash. Along the way, O'Brien emerged as a folk hero for the social media set. Google's (GOOG) YouTube exploded with clips of fellow comedians supporting O'Brien and mocking his predecessor-turned-successor and sometimes nemesis, Jay Leno. Fans marched in protest outside of NBC. They uploaded triumphant photos from their Conan love-ins on Tumblr. They pledged allegiance to "Team Coco" on Facebook. O'Brien grew a beard and kept in touch with the faithful on Twitter.

Now, some nine months later, TBS is attempting to revive the Team Coco fervor. Over the summer, TBS kicked things off with a series of 30-second TV spots featuring the chorus from the John Waite song Missing You and images of lovelorn fans coping with their bereavement in unusual ways—such as a despondent fellow spelling out "Conan" with the letters in his bowl of alphabet soup.

In late September, TBS unleashed the full campaign. During TBS's annual coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs, the network provided aerial views of the games, courtesy of a big, orange Conan-TBS-branded blimp. Online, fans could follow the blimp's movements, look at constantly updated photos, and interact with fellow O'Brien fans by "checking into"

the blimp on location-based social network Foursquare. There was even a 24-hour Coco Cam on the Web streaming live video of Conan and his crew making odd preparations for the new show.

The rollout was designed to maximize Conan's visibility on the Web. So ads featuring the blimp—like the print ads in Vanity Fair, the photo shoot of O'Brien posing with a European barn owl, and the music video of O'Brien soaping up his desk in slow motion—were cross-posted on a handful of Conan-centric websites, including teamcoco.com, a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel. One reason for the Web focus: O'Brien's popularity with younger viewers. "Here's a guy, Conan, who is in his 40s who attracts audiences in their 20s and 30s, competing against guys in their 60s who attract audiences that are virtually the same age," says Koonin. "The audience should be the youngest in late night. That's what advertisers crave."

Since introducing its "Very Funny" tag line in 2004, TBS has grown into one of the top-rated channels on cable, thanks in large part to the network's acquisition and repackaging of proven comedy series, such as Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Office, and Family Guy. Despite the network's success, TBS is still largely perceived as an accidental destination—a place people stumble on while channel surfing, not a go-to place for original programming, says Robert Thompson, the director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

Turner executives hope Conan's arrival could change that. "There may be some college students who will discover what number TBS is on their cable dial for the first time because they want to watch Conan," says Thompson. "Comedy Central has demonstrated that late night is no longer just the purview of the broadcast networks," he adds. "Late night is potentially a cash cow."

A recent study by Advertising Age estimated that in 2009, CBS's (CBS) The Late Show with David Letterman earned $271 million in ad revenue; NBC's The Tonight Show brought in $175.9 million; and ABC's (DIS) Jimmy Kimmel Live! earned $138.1 million. Time Warner Chairman Jeffrey Bewkes in August boasted that TBS was already getting ad rates for Conan on par with its late-night competitors.

O'Brien's move to cable sets up a potential showdown against Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart followed by The Colbert Report. So far this television season, according to Nielsen research, The Daily Show has averaged 1,948,000 total viewers. During the final, frenzied week of O'Brien's NBC run, The Tonight Show averaged 5.3 million viewers. So do TBS execs think O'Brien is going to trounce Stewart? "Conan is top of the class," says Koonin diplomatically. "We think his ratings will be extremely competitive with late night both on broadcast and cable." No potshots from the blimp just yet.

NBC: Conan Lied on '60 Minutes'

NY Daily News

Conan O'Brien's appearance on "60 Minutes" Sunday has NBC seeing red.

The network is accusing CoCo of lying when he claimed NBC bought him out because Leno's severance package would have cost more, TMZ reports.

According to sources at NBC, Leno's severance package would have been equivalent to what O'Brien walked home with -- $32.5 million.

The network also took issue with Big Red's response to Steve Kroft's statement that "The Tonight Show" was losing money.

"I don't see how that's, I honestly don't see how that's possible," O'Brien told the “60 Minutes” interviewer. "It's really not possible.  It isn't possible."

NBC’s sources claim they had a discussion with O’Brien in which they told him the show would lose $5 million a year if he stayed on.

Conan Opens up about his 'Toxic' Relationship

Salon

On "60 Minutes," the former "Tonight Show" host spoke about Leno and NBC like a man rebounding from a divorce

"This year is still incomprehensible," Conan O'Brien said. "The amount of stuff that's happened is going to take me along time to process."

Conan, you're not the only one.

There's not a soul on earth who's a stranger to failure. But few have the talent to turn their biggest defeat into a moment of triumph. But for a few weeks in January, that's what O'Brien did, transforming his kiss-off from NBC into the most rousing and hilarious thing to hit the nicey nice world of late night since, well, NBC pulled a similar stunt on David Letterman 18 years ago. Now, three months and change after bidding a cowbelled adieu to "The Tonight Show" -- and in the midst of his "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour -- O'Brien opened up on "60 Minutes" about the behind-the-scenes drama that precipitated his exit. Well, sort of.

O'Brien, who is still bound by what must be the mother of all non-disparagement clauses, was circumspect in the Sunday segment with Steve Kroft (he'd also been restrained from giving any television interviews until May 1). Gone was the Conan of winter, a man who seemed gloriously ablaze with rage toward his network. Instead he compared his split with NBC to the end of a marriage. He talked about grieving his relationship -- "toxic," he called it, classic breakup speak -- who pulled dude-in-pain moves like tweeting through his tears and the classic, growing a beard.

"So I lost 'The Tonight Show,'" he cracked to Kroft . "I'll show them. I'll stop shaving!"

Throughout the segment, Kroft lobbed questions to a clearly well-prepared, deeply cautious O'Brien. Had Jeff Zucker called him since he'd left? Had Leno? Nooooo.

"I do not think I will hearing from him," he said. And when asked if he believed Leno had acted "honorably," he replied like a lover trying to stay classy. "What I know is what happened, which is he went and took that show back." He added, "Had I surrendered 'The Tonight Show,' I would not have come back six months later. But that's me." Subtext: Because I'm not a jerk.

Then, in the interview's most revealing moment, he responded to Kroft's question about whether Leno had also been "screwed" by NBC with laughter, a dramatic, amused eye roll, and a polite, "It's harder for me to get inside his head and argue his side. I'm happy with my decision. I sleep well at night. I hope he's happy with his decision."

Very "(500) Days of Summer."

In fact, the closest O'Brien got to flashing any temper was when he admitted, "I don't know how thought out it this whole thing was. But if they wanted me to leave … they got their wish." And when asked about NBC's assertion that the show was losing money, he shook his head and replied, "For anyone to say the results were in after six months doesn't ring true to me ... I don't see how that's possible. Everybody knows they did what they had to do, and the only thing I take exception to is people saying, 'Conan was losing money.'"

Like any man coming out of the fog of heartbreak, O'Brien hasn't exactly returned as the lighthearted cut-up we knew during all those years of his previous relationship. In September, he'll re-emerge at TBS (which he pointedly referred to as "young") , and chances are, in much the manner of everyone who's been through a breakup, he'll be bringing his baggage with him. Maybe by then he won't have to reassure his fans that "I'm fine. I don't regret anything," and can go back to being "comedically absurd and ridiculous." But this time, the man who's still doing the heartbreak anthem "I Will Survive" every night on his tour will be sporting a little more bittersweet perspective -- and a lot more facial hair. And if Letterman's anything to go on, years and years of sly digs at NBC's expense.

Coco Inks new Deal with TBS

NY Times

 

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. four nights a week (Monday through Thursday), 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.”

Conan O'Brien's Work in Progress

Business Week

The former Tonight Show host is in play, but prospective TV and cable networks are struggling to find him the right time slot

Illustration by Jim Cooke

The last time America saw Conan O'Brien, the red-haired, late-night talk show host was riffing on an electric guitar as comedian Will Ferrell donned a shoulder-length blond wig to screech his way through the Lynyrd Skynyrd song Freebird. As final shows go it was an appropriately wacky end to NBC's high-profile firing of O'Brien from The Tonight Show. Celebrities denounced NBC. Pro "Coco" fans demonstrated outside the studio.

So you'd think landing another major TV gig would be a snap, right? Actually, no. Since leaving the air on Jan. 22, O'Brien has been flitting from one potential deal to another as network and cable executives struggle to find the right programming slot for his show. Fox wants him for its 11 p.m. slot but hasn't yet convinced its TV affiliates—or even the stations owned by corporate parent News Corp. (NWS)—they should carry it. A 7 p.m. syndicated show against the likes of Jeopardy! or Entertainment Tonight is possible, as is a show on cable, but both face big challenges.

"Getting Conan is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get a well-known talent with a following," says Bill Carroll, director of programming for Katz Television Group, which advises TV stations on licensing shows. "But the timing couldn't be worse. Every scenario for him has more risks than upside."

Late-Night Crowd

O'Brien's most daunting problem is breaking into a late-night lineup that has grown overcrowded in the last five years. A new show would have to compete against NBC's Jay Leno, CBS's (CBS) David Letterman, and ABC's Nightline. And younger viewers who might flock to O'Brien are instead watching shows like Comedy Central's The Colbert Report or Family Guy on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, says Brad Adgate, head of research for the TV ad-buying company Horizon Media. Some of Fox's larger stations meanwhile are airing The Office reruns and have signed expensive deals for reruns of NBC's hit show 30 Rock in some of those late-night time slots.

Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly enjoys a strong relationship with O'Brien, with whom he worked while both were at NBC. But Fox first needs to persuade its affiliates to take a chance. "It's been a very challenging environment for the station business coming off a recession," Reilly says. And he acknowledges that if he can strike a deal with affiliates it could take several years to stitch together a single time slot because some stations will continue to run sitcoms after their news programs. One strategy might be to start the show at 11 p.m. in some markets and later in others, according to TV executives with knowledge of Fox's options. News Corp. could also air O'Brien on some of its less watched affiliate group MyNetworkTV's stations in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere. With shows like Glee and The Cleveland Show, Reilly has boosted Fox's ratings by 3% this year and leads in the sought-after 18-to-49-year-old age group. O'Brien would help extend Fox's edgier brand to late night as well, says Horizon's Adgate.

Not everyone at News Corp. agrees. Fox's syndication arm, which sells reruns of The Simpsons and other shows, could lose a late-night market to O'Brien. And Fox-owned stations would likely be forced to swallow losses for reruns they've already licensed. "We're giving it a lot of thought," CEO Rupert Murdoch said in a February conference call. "If the program people can show us that we could do it and be fairly confident of making a profit on it, we'd do it in a flash."

Starz, Showtime Talks

Fox is unlikely to spend the $50 million a year that NBC spent to produce The Tonight Show, say two sources with knowledge of the talks, or to pay its host's $12.5 million salary. O'Brien, who together with his staff left NBC with $45 million in network severance, has been looking for places other than Fox to yuk it up. Team Conan, which includes manager Gavin Polone and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment agent Rick Rosen, has chatted up pay cable channels Starz and Showtime on deals similar to the show Bill Maher hosts on HBO, three sources with knowledge of the talks say.

O'Brien is also considering taking his shtick to an earlier hour. CBS's syndication unit, which distributes Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, has talked with him. So has Debmar-Mercury, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) that syndicates the game show Family Feud and sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne, which wants him for 7 p.m. That hour might appeal to O'Brien, who wouldn't face the prospect of coming in fourth in the late-night wars. But a comedy-style talk show has never worked in that time slot, according to Katz Television's Carroll. That's why Sony (SNE) considered, then passed, on the idea.

Leno says he expects O'Brien to return to late night. "He'll come back, and he'll be strong," he told The View co-host Joy Behar in a video interview she posted on the Web. On Apr. 12 a newly bearded O'Brien will begin his 30-city The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour. For now, says Polone, the comedian is "not thinking of anything except opening the tour with the strongest show possible."

Conan Joins Twitter, Asks for Help

Chicago Tribune

Conan O'Brien is keeping himself busy by interviewing animals.

That's the word from the former "Tonight Show" host via his new Twitter account.

"Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me," O'Brien said in his first tweet. His account bio reads: "I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account."

O'Brien hosted "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" for 16 years before taking over the "Tonight Show" in June 2009 for Jay Leno, who went on to host a quickly canceled program on NBC at 10 p.m. ET. After conceding that the Leno primetime experiment failed— because it made a poor lead-in for local news—NBC execs decided to move the "Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m. ET to make room for a half-hour Jay Leno show at 11:35. O'Brien declined to accept the move because to do so would mean participating in the show's "destruction," he said, ending his "Tonight Show" gig after just seven months.

O'Brien's final "Tonight Show" aired On January 22. Guests Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Will Ferrell and Neil Young stopped by to pay tribute to his run as the host of the late-night institution. The normally ebullient host grew serious as his final "Tonight Show" drew to a close. He's been keeping a low-profile ever since.

O'Brien received a $45 million payout for exiting the show; of that sum, $12 million went to his staff as severance pay. Under the terms of the payout, O'Brien isn't allowed to host another TV show until September 1, 2010. Jay Leno returns to host the "Tonight Show" on March 1.

To follow Conan on Twitter, check out twitter.com/ConanOBrien.

NBC: Hit the Road; Conan: Maybe I Will

NY Daily News

Conan O'Brien, former NBC 'Tonight Show' host, may take show on the road for live tour

Conan O'Brien was told to hit the road by NBC and he might just do that.

The former "Tonight" host, whose exit deal barred him from TV appearances for several months, is weighing a tour that would take him directly to his fans, according to a person familiar with the proposal.

Details are unsettled, the person said, but O'Brien may perform live at U.S. venues, including college campuses, or head to Europe.

An O'Brien spokesman declined comment.

The tour could be a prelude to a new talk show for the comedian, who left "Tonight" last month when NBC tried to bump him to a midnight slot.

Possibilities include Fox, which expressed interest.

Jay Leno reclaims "Tonight" next month.

Fans Support Conan in Droves

CBS News

"The Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien led hundreds of his fans down a street to the NBC Building in Los Angeles. O'Brien has been in a much-publicized dispute with the Peacock Network.

Letterman: Relentlessly Mocking Leno Is 'Just Fun'

CBS

Conan Reaps $40M In NBC Exit

NY Post

Conan O'Brien is close to signing a nearly $40 million deal to walk away from his job hosting NBC's "The Tonight Show," in a new move that will also award severance pay to his employees, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The deal, which has been fiercely negotiated for the last week, will give O'Brien $32.5 million to go on garden leave until September. This would prevent him from hosting any other TV shows if he pockets the cash, but gives him an option to sign other deals.

The remaining $7.5 million will go in severance pay to about 200 of Conan's "Tonight Show" employees after they expressed outrage about the prospect of going penniless, reports said.



O'Brien decided to leave NBC after executives said they would push his show to a slot after midnight (EST) in favor of the Jay Leno Show.

The exit agreement, which could be completed as early as Tuesday, bars O'Brien from bad-mouthing his former NBC bosses.

News of the deal comes hours after Leno tried to explain his side of the dispute with NBC during the monologue of his soon-to-be cancelled 10 p.m. show.

He said his expected return to 11:35 p.m. could become official today -- and called frenemy Conan O'Brien a "great guy."

His remarks (text below) came on the heels of reports O'Brien was close to signing a $40 million exit deal with NBC after refusing to move his "Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m.

Jay's remarks

' I thought maybe I should address this. At least give you my view of what has been going on here at NBC.

Oh, let’s start in 2004 — 2004, I’m sitting in my office, an NBC executive comes in and says to me, “Listen, Conan O’Brien has gotten offers from other networks. We don’t want him to go, so we’re going to give him ‘The Tonight Show.’ “ I said, “Well, I’ve been number one for 12 years.” They said, “We know that, but we don’t think you can sustain that.” I said, “OK. How about until I fall to number two, then you fire me?” “No, we made this decision.” I said, “That’s fine.”

Don’t blame Conan O’Brien. Nice guy, good family guy, great guy. He and I have talked and not a problem since then. That’s what managers and people do, they try to get something for their clients. I said, “I’ll retire just to avoid what happened the last time.” OK.

So time goes by, and we stay number one up until the day we leave. We hand — [applause] — no, no. OK, but I’m leaving before my contract is out. About six to eight months early. So before I could go anywhere else, it would be at least a year or 18 months before I could go and do a show somewhere else.

I said to NBC, “Would you release me from my contract?” They said, “We want to keep you here.” OK.

“What are your ideas?” They said, “How about prime time?” I said, “That will never work.” “No, no, we want to put you on at 10. We have done focus groups. People will love you at 10.” . . . Four months go by, we don’t make it. Meanwhile, Conan’s show during the summer — we’re not on — was not doing well. The great hope was that we would help him. Well, we didn’t help him any. OK.

They come and go, “This show isn’t working. We want to let you go.” “Can you let me out of my contract?” “No, you’re still a valuable asset to this company.” How valuable can I be? You fired me twice. How valuable can I be? OK.

So then, the affiliates are not happy. The affiliates are the ones that own the TV stations. They’re the ones that sort of make the decisions. “They’re not happy with your performance, and Conan is not doing well at 11:30.” I said, “What’s your idea?” They said, “Well, look, how about you do a half-hour show at 11:30?” Now, where I come from, when your boss gives you a job and you don’t do it well — I think we did a good job here, but we didn’t get the ratings, so you get humbled. I said, “OK, I’m not crazy about doing a half-hour, but OK. What do you want to do with Conan?” “We’ll put him on at midnight, or 12:05, keeps ‘The Tonight Show’ does all that, he gets the whole hour.” I said, “OK. You think Conan will go for that?” “Yes, yes. [Laughter.] Almost guarantee you.” I said OK. Shake hands, that’s it. I don’t have a manager, I don’t have an agent, that’s my handshake deal.

Next thing, I see Conan . . . saying he doesn’t want to do that. They come back to me and they say, “If he decides to walk and doesn’t want to do it, do you want the show back?” I go, “Yeah, I’ll take the show back. If that’s what he wants to do. This way, we keep our people working, fine.”

So that’s pretty much where we are. It looks like we might be back at 11:30, I’m not sure. I don’t know. [Applause.] I don’t know. But through all of this — through all of this, Conan O’Brien has been a gentleman. He’s a good guy. I have no animosity towards him.

This is all business. If you don’t get the ratings, they take you off the air . . . You can do almost anything. You get ratings, they keep you. I don’t get ratings he wants. That was NBC’s solution. It didn’t work, so we might have an answer for you tomorrow.

So, we’ll see. That’s basically where it is.'

NBC Needs To Redefine Itself After Leno Experiment

USA Today

PASADENA, Calif. — TV's late shift is shifting again, and in a way that could retool a television institution, The Tonight Show.

On Sunday, NBC confirmed what was Hollywood's hottest rumor all weekend: The network is dropping The Jay Leno Show from its prime-time lineup after his Feb. 11 show. The former Tonight Show host will return to late night on March 1, after NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics, in a half-hour format in his old perch at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT. The Tonight Show, now hosted by Conan O'Brien, would move from the after-news slot it has occupied since the '60s to after midnight: 12:05 a.m. ET/PT.

NBC's shift marks a quick end to a five-month experiment that the network heralded as a new way to program prime-time television: by positioning Leno's topical, relatively inexpensive-to-produce show as a lead-in to local newscasts. But Leno's mediocre ratings drew complaints from affiliates and helped fuel the latest drama to beset the struggling fourth-place network. The network unraveled a risky move aimed not only at cutting costs but also at keeping Leno from defecting to another network after NBC anointed O'Brien as his successor on The Tonight Show.

Leno's return to late night throws into question the future complexion of the legendary Tonight Show— at 55, one of the longest-running shows on television — as well as the future of its new host, O'Brien.

O'Brien now faces a difficult choice: Does he stay at the network that promised five years ago he'd get the primary late-night slot? Or does he bolt for another network and collect an eight-figure penalty NBC would face for reneging on his Tonight Show deal?

If O'Brien bolts, The Tonight Show would return to a format viewers saw for 17 years: an hour-long show with Leno as host, starting at 11:35 ET/PT.

NBC's move indicates that "viewers want scripted shows at 10 p.m.," says Shari Anne Brill, analyst at big ad firm Carat USA. In prime time, Leno's talk/variety hybrid was "something done at the beginning of television. Networks still need a (big) audience."

NBC Universal TV chief Jeff Gaspin acknowledged Sunday that Leno's prime-time effort didn't measure up and said he made the call to cut bait late last month: "While it was performing at an acceptable level (financially) for the network, it did not meet our affiliates' needs, and we realized we had to make a change."

The main complaint: Stations' late local newscasts, which deliver a big chunk of their profits through TV ads, were hemorrhaging viewers. And O'Brien's late-night ratings were little more than half the total Leno had claimed last season, ending NBC's 15-year run in first place in the late-night time slot.

Gaspin said his goal is to "keep Jay, Conan and Jimmy (Fallon) as part of our late-night lineup." Under the new plan, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon would move from 12:35 a.m. to 1:05. (Carson Daly's talk show, which now follows Fallon, would be canceled, though Daly would remain under contract at the network.)

But "as much as I would like to tell you we have a done deal, we know that's not true," Gaspin said. "The talks are still ongoing."

NBC expects to resolve O'Brien's fate, one way or the other, by the time the Winter Olympics begin Feb. 12. The Olympics are expected to deliver a big audience the network plans to use to promote its rebuilt prime-time and late-night schedules starting March 1.

"What's important to Jay is telling jokes at 11:30, and what was really important to Conan beyond that is having the franchise of The Tonight Show," Gaspin said. "I obviously couldn't satisfy either with 100% of what they wanted; that's why I came up with this compromise."

O'Brien to Fox?

NBC wouldn't discuss terms of O'Brien's contract. If he stays, he'd wind up competing not only with current rival David Letterman on CBS but would face CBS' Craig Ferguson and go head-to-head with ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, who appeals primarily to a similar audience of young men. And O'Brien almost certainly would lose even more viewers by reverting to a later time slot.

Should O'Brien leave the network, Leno would again inherit The Tonight Show, a post he never wanted to leave. O'Brien's most obvious destination would be Fox, which expressed interest in him in 2004 and does not currently program in late night except on Saturdays. (ABC says it does not plan to pursue O'Brien.)

In a statement, Fox said that "we've always been interested in late night, and we're always looking to bring great new talent to Fox."

Many Fox stations, however, earn big profits with syndicated reruns of shows such as Seinfeld and The Simpsons in late night, and they might balk at turning an hour over to the network at 11 p.m. ET/PT. That, coupled with the cost of bringing O'Brien aboard, makes such a move by him anything but a slam dunk.

O'Brien's representatives could not be reached for comment Sunday, but on Friday's show he addressed rumored changes, joking that "NBC is going to throw me and Jay in a pit with sharpened sticks. The one who crawls out alive gets to leave NBC. Trust me, that is an appealing proposition."

Leno, too, joked last week about reports that his prime-time show would be canceled. "I don't think there is any truth to the rumors," he told viewers. "See, it's always been my experience that NBC only cancels you when you're in first place."

While hosting The Tonight Show, O'Brien has shed many of Leno's former late-night viewers. Meanwhile, Leno's prime-time audience (about 5.6 million viewers overall) was 30% lower than the schedule it replaced among NBC's young-adult target audience.

Many of those viewers went to basic cable channels, not to broadcast rivals, according to Nielsen research. During local newscasts, such viewers also often use their DVRs to catch up on recorded shows. It all has contributed to plummeting local newscasts on NBC's affiliates.

Gaspin said about one-third of NBC's 200 or so stations "were really hurt by it and incredibly concerned" by Leno's ratings, warning they'd act if NBC didn't.

"The drumbeat started getting louder and louder, and toward the middle of December they made it very clear they were going to start getting more vocal about their displeasure and were starting to talk about the possibility of pre-emptions," Gaspin said, referring to local affiliates' option to run their own programming rather than that provided by the network. "It was then that I realized this was not going to go well. This was going to be a PR nightmare."

Affiliates sought move

NBC considered several other options, including cutting Leno to fewer nights or keeping the prime-time show until September, but ultimately decided to wipe the slate clean sooner.

"I would have much preferred to concentrate on launching new shows than now trying to explain to people why we have an (entirely) new schedule. I would have much preferred to wait until September," Gaspin said. But "we needed to signal to stations that we were willing to act."

Gaspin denied the move was hastened by cable giant Comcast's agreement last month to acquire a controlling interest in NBC Universal, which faces regulatory hurdles that could be complicated by station unrest.

Many advertisers were dubious about Leno's prime-time prospects in the first place. They questioned why NBC would go through with a plan to unseat the king of late night, a plan put in place by Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal's CEO.

"I was kind of lukewarm to the whole idea," Brill said. "They really hurt themselves by doing this, but they hurt themselves the last two years by cutting back on development" of new series. "There were a lot of forces at work helping to create the situation they're in."

Even Jerry Seinfeld, the Leno Show's first guest, weighed in Sunday, saying it was "the right idea at the wrong time. I'm proud of NBC that they had the guts to try something so original."

Gaspin agreed that other programming failures compounded the debacle. "Had we been stronger (from) 8 to 10 (p.m.), perhaps Jay would have been stronger at 10 and the affiliates wouldn't have had as much an issue," he said in an interview. The network's ability to develop lasting dramas also was limited by turning over five prime-time hours a week to Leno.

Gannett, parent of USA TODAY, owns 11 NBC stations and delivers the most viewers for the network apart from NBC-owned outlets. Dave Lougee, president of Gannett's broadcast group, said bumping Leno back to late night was "a move that needed to take place," since his low ratings "impacted us like everybody. We're very appreciative that Jay is sticking around in his old time slot and very hopeful that Conan will stay with the network as well. They're both great talents."

Michael Fiorile, president of NBC's affiliates board, called Leno's exit from prime time "a great move" for local stations. "We admire their willingness to innovate, and their willingness to change course when it didn't work for us."

It's unclear whether the public profiles of Leno and O'Brien will suffer as a result of NBC's musical chairs. That won't be known until the dust settles and viewers re-embrace the hosts — or don't.

To replace Leno at 10 starting March 1, Gaspin said, NBC is likely to add two more hours of scripted dramas (it can use repeats of Friday Night Lights and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which now first air on other networks), along with an expanded Dateline NBC. Other current series, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, could shift to later slots.

For fall, NBC ordered seven drama pilots Sunday as potential replacements, including series from high-profile producers David E. Kelley, Jerry Bruckheimer and J.J. Abrams and remakes of Prime Suspect and Rockford Files.

Gaspin said NBC is spending 30% to 35% more on new-program development than in recent seasons and promises viewers will see "high-quality, more traditional NBC programming" next fall with "smart, sophisticated and fun content." After years of audience erosion, "I think we have a shot at actually going up."

Jonathan Littman, who heads Bruckheimer's TV division, welcomed the Leno news.

"Any time you can get more scripted programs on the air, the better," he said, noting that a typical drama employs 200 workers.

"A lot of people really saw this as having a pretty negative impact on our business," said CBS programming chief Nina Tassler, who called Leno's move to prime time "an experiment that obviously did not work."

Conan Rejects NBC Proposal To Follow Leno

MSN

Conan O'Brien says he's rejecting NBC's attempt to move "The Tonight Show" to a post-midnight slot to accommodate Jay Leno's return to late-night.

In a statement Tuesday, O'Brien says that NBC has given him a scant seven months to try to establish himself as host of "Tonight."

NBC wants to move "The Jay Leno Show" out of prime-time and to the 11:35 p.m. EST daily slot, bumping "Tonight" to 12:05 p.m. EST.

O'Brien said he hoped he and NBC could resolve the issue quickly so he could do a show of which he and his crew could be proud — "for a company that values our work" — raising the possibility he might go to another network. But he said he has no such offer.

O'Brien released the statement below on Tuesday afternoon:

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over "The Tonight Show" in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my "Tonight Show" in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move "The Tonight Show" to 12:05 to accommodate "The Jay Leno Show" at 11:35. For 60 years "The Tonight Show" has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. "The Tonight Show" at 12:05 simply isn't "The Tonight Show." Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the "Late Night" show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of "The Tonight Show." But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with "The Tonight Show," I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

Fox, Other Networks Interested as Conan Studies Options‏

Bloomberg

Conan O'Brien On The Way Out at NBC
Jay Leno Getting Moved Back To Late Night

News Corp.’s Fox is among several TV networks interested in hiring “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien if the comedian decides to leave NBC, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

O’Brien, 46, who took over as host of “The Tonight Show” in June, planned to begin considering options after taping last night’s show, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the deliberations are private.

The comedian, who prefers to stay at NBC, isn’t concerned that by changing networks he may have to compete with Jay Leno, one of the people said. NBC is considering moving “The Jay Leno Show” from its current 10 p.m. slot to 11:35 p.m. to bolster prime-time and late-night ratings, according to network officials with knowledge of the situation. The change would push “The Tonight Show” back one-half hour.

“To move or replace talent you have to give them something, money or something else,” Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham & Co. in Pasadena, California, said in an interview.

Rebecca Marks, an NBC spokeswoman, declined to comment. She pointed to a Jan. 7 statement that the network is committed to keeping O’Brien on the air.

Fox, controlled by News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch, said it’s interested in adding late- night programs and views O’Brien as a natural candidate.

O’Brien’s contract with General Electric Co.’s NBC remains an obstacle, according to Los Angeles-based Fox. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that O’Brien was considering a move.

Wait and See

Fox is waiting to see how events unfold at NBC. Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable company, plans to acquire control of NBC Universal through a joint venture with GE.

ABC is happy with its current late-night schedule and doesn’t plan to approach O’Brien, according to a spokesman for the network, owned by Burbank, California-based Walt Disney Co.

NBC aims to settle the programming questions by Jan. 21, when executives hold a regular meeting with representatives of affiliate stations, one of the people said. Leno has agreed to host a half-hour show starting at 11:35 p.m., the people said.

GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, gained 35 cents to $16.60 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Comcast, based in Philadelphia, dropped 5 cents to $16.92 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, while News Corp. Class A added 12 cents to $14.12.

Leno, 59, moved to prime time to make way at “The Tonight Show” for O’Brien. NBC announced O’Brien would take over five years earlier.

NBC's New Schedule May Be Conan's Decision

NY Times

The future of NBC’s plan to shake up its late-night television lineup may depend on just how much Conan O’Brien doesn’t like what the network has done to him.

A day after NBC executives said they were contemplating a plan to move Jay Leno back to 11:35 p.m., elbowing Mr. O’Brien back a half-hour to 12:05 a.m., representatives of Mr. O’Brien’s are privately saying that he has not accepted NBC’s plan and that he is likely not to agree to it any time in the near future. But none were willing to say so publicly.

The uncertainty has created an extraordinary spectacle: Two of NBC’s biggest stars, with an aggregate salary of more than $50 million a year, and their staffs are waiting to see what might happen, with no official word being issued from the network or any of its executives.

A senior executive at a rival network said that if Mr. O’Brien and his representatives were willing to walk away from money he may still be owed by NBC, “they’ll have options.” The executive spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wanted to avoid becoming involved in NBC’s dealings with Mr. O’Brien.

One option seems to be emerging for Mr. O’Brien. On Friday the Fox network began sending signals that it may have a home for Mr. O’Brien, should he decide that he would rather opt out of his lucrative contract at NBC — which pays him in the range of $20 million yearly — for a shot at a show that does not relegate him indefinitely behind Mr. Leno.

“We’ve always been interested in late night and we’re always looking to bring great new talent to Fox,” said a Fox employee who demanded anonymity because network employees were not authorized to speak on the record about the issue. “While Conan would be a great fit for Fox, he’s still under contract with NBC, so we’ll just see how all of this plays out.”

Several news organizations published similar anonymous comments from Fox on Friday afternoon.

A senior Fox executive amplified the network’s interest by saying that a late-night show has always been at least loosely on the network’s agenda.

“We love Conan,” the executive said.

The move to redirect Mr. Leno from prime time, where his new show has struggled since September, back to late night was fueled by complaints from NBC’s affiliated stations that they were seeing diminished ratings for their 11 o’clock local newscasts as a result of low lead-in audiences each night in the 10 o’clock hour.

NBC’s problems with “The Jay Leno Show” have also affected the ratings of “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien.” Mr. O’Brien averaged 2.8 million viewers at 11:35 p.m. from June through December, according to Nielsen, 1.5 million of whom were ages 18 to 49. In the television season that ended the month before Mr. O’Brien’s start, Mr. Leno averaged 5 million viewers at 11:35 p.m., 1.8 million of whom were 18 to 49.

Executives from most of NBC’s bigger station partners (and the chairman of its affiliate board) did not return phone calls or e-mail messages on Friday. The effect of Mr. Leno’s ratings also trickled down to local stations in smaller cities like Charleston, W. Va., where the NBC affiliate has seen the audience for its 11 p.m. newscast cut fully in half in the past year.

Viewers “just didn’t accept Leno at 10 o’clock,” said Don Ray, the vice president and general manager of WSAZ in Charleston. With Mr. Leno as a weaker lead-in, WSAZ’s 11 p.m. news received a 3 rating among 18- to 49-year-olds last November, down from a 6 rating for the same month last year.

As a result, “we make, in that 11 p.m. time slot, 60 percent of the money we used to make,” Mr. Ray said.

He added that he was excited about the potential move. “It’ll be good to have Leno back following our news instead of leading into our news,” he said.

Misgivings about Mr. Leno’s show deepened in December when local affiliates received ratings books for November — a so-called sweeps month, when ad rates for the next quarter of the year are set.

“I know that several affiliates talked to” NBC after that information arrived, said one station manager who would speak only on the condition of anonymity.

NBC had heralded Mr. Leno’s 10 p.m. show as transformational because it could be produced for far less money than expensive dramas that had been in that. hour. In September Jeff Zucker, the NBC Universal chief executive, said at an investors’ conference that the network would give Mr. Leno plenty of time to find his footing.

“We’re going to judge this on 52 weeks,” Mr. Zucker said.

Mr. Leno has been on at 10 p.m. for 17 weeks.

On Friday Mr. Ray noted that NBC was moving swiftly to correct what he said he believed was a misstep. “You’ve got to credit NBC for acting in a timely fashion,” he said.

NBC’s prime-time plan for Mr. Leno never won over some top advertising executives. Shari Anne Brill, a senior vice president at the Carat media agency, said she “questioned the decision” when it was made because it reminded her of “the early days of TV” when low-cost variety-comedy shows filled the schedules of the fledgling networks.

“It always smacked of cost saving and managing for margins,” Ms. Brill said.

John Rash, senior vice president and director of media analysis at the Campbell Mithun agency in Minneapolis, said in an e-mail message, “With a new-program failure rate approaching 90 percent plus in some seasons, it’s not a shock that ‘The Jay Leno Show’ — which was an unprecedented upending of the way prime time is programmed in the first place — didn’t work.”

Looking ahead, Ms. Brill said, “for me the big mystery is what is the plan for 10.”

NBC has almost no programming on its shelves ready to fill the 10 p.m. hour, leading many to suggest that the network would turn to multiple episodes of its news magazine “Dateline” and would be likely to reschedule the drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which had been a hit at 10 before being moved to 9 to make room for Mr. Leno.

Mr. Rash said “the blank canvas at 10” offered NBC “a challenge and opportunity to redefine its lineup.” If NBC can find the next generation of dramas, he said, “it stands a chance of bringing back viewers, and if it does, advertising investment will follow.”

Ms. Brill was less sanguine. “None of this is making sense to me,” she said, other than that Mr. Leno “does belong at 11:30.”

Referring to a character created by Johnny Carson, Mr. Leno’s predecessor on “The Tonight Show,” Ms. Brill said, “Only Carnac the Magnificent could make sense of this.”