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NBC exec rips Conan O'Brien; is a deal about to be struck?
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When Conan O'Brien does exit NBC -- which may not be very long from now -- at least one of the network's top executives doesn't sound all that upset to see him leave.Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, says the late-night shakeup currently underway at the network is a result first and foremost of the disappointing ratings for "The Tonight Show" since O'Brien took over last summer.
"What this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan," Ebersol tells The New York Times. He adds that the sniping that's been coming from O'Brien and CBS' David Letterman and recent days is "chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn't beat in the ratings."
Tell us how you really feel, Mr. Ebersol.
Meanwhile, it's starting to look like a deal is coming together that will allow O'Brien to walk away and be free to find a job on another network. The Daily Beast is reporting that O'Brien will take some sort of buyout, and NBC won't enforce a non-compete clause in his contract -- which will let him find work elsewhere.
The upshot for NBC will be Jay Leno's return to "The Tonight Show," along with a more traditional lineup at 10 p.m. "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and "Last Call with Carson Daly" will stay put.
FOX is considered the most likely future home for O'Brien, but it's not an automatic. The network's affiliates would have to sign off on any potential deal.
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Photo credits: Getty Images, NBC
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Maybe if they didn't tweak Conan's show to the point that it was unrecognizable as his brand of humor, they wouldn't be so disappointed.
Total support for Conan.
conan was never funny, so it will be good to see him leave. everyone blames leno for conan's bad rating, but conan's rating were bad through the summer, long before jay came on at 10
I agree. NBC are are a bunch of clueless hacks. Conan, keep your head held and know that you are superior to every last peacock executive. Death to Leno, Ebersol and the rest of the scum.
Whats funny is this whole things is a result of Leno's show failing. Yet somehow they are trying to spin it to be about Conan's "bad" ratings.
Considering the response of Elvis above, it's apparent there are enough idiots in the world to buy it.
An Ebersol is a complete waste of time to quote. The guy ran SNL into the ground, has made a mess of NBC sports. Yeah lets listen to him if this is the result of bad ratings the entire executive staff should be gone.
Being in New York and on later in the evening suited Conan much better than the hollywood scene. His brand of humor is not for everyone. Jay and his humor is for the boring and uninteresting masses. Conan is unique, intelligent, and quirky. Also, Andy sucks. Conan and Max had very funny chemistry when they interacted. Andy is a bore. I'd love Conan to leave NBC. Go to Fox and be his old much crazier and funnier self. If people that watch at 11:30 can't appreciate him he needs to go back to where he is loved. NBC doesn't and never did deserve him.
I look forward to Conan on FOX late night 11/10p nightly. That is unless Jay takes Dave's advice and lets Conan have the Tonight Show showing he's the bigger man. Conan scored huge points by putting "The Tonight Show" above his career, I think an equally noble gesture from Jay would be better than having a pariah host the bastardized TTS.
If anyone @ NBC knows about "astounding failure" it's this turkey Ebersol. The man has brought the kiss of death to so many things @ NBC it's almost like he's still working for ABC as a deep cover double agent. Since he felt compelled to open his yap about this situation, one must assume he has his fingerprints on yet another NBC clusterf**k.
Do youselves a favour folks, look for CTV coverage of the Olympics if you can get it on cable and forget about the trainwreck that is NBC coverage.
Still say....didn't Jay Leno want to NOT DO the Tonight Show any longer which is how this whole thing started. He needs to show some class and back out now
I agree with TV Inspector. Jay's horrible ratings caused the 11PM news ratings to drop so it is safe to say that it caused Conan's ratings to drop as well. NBC will put Jay back on and its 10 O'Clock lineup will boost not only local news but Jay as well. NBC will at that point still blame Conan. Sadly, it appears a no win for him.
How about we put Leno at 10eastern on CBS, and give NBC CBS's line up at the 10 o'clock time slot for half a year, and then lets make fair comparisons. Is this guy that naive? I thought he was in the television business.