TMZ is reporting that while Jay Leno had a contractual guarantee for the 10pm slot, and NBC will have to renegotiate his contract for a move to 11:35, Conan O'Brien does not have any time slot guarantees in his contract as some originally suggested. Multiple sources including Reuters and The New York Times are reporting the same thing.
Conan's contract allegedly guarantees that he host a show named "The Tonight Show," but there are no guarantees about when it must air.
According to TMZ, Conan has argued that given the history of the show there is an "implied" guarantee the show would begin at 11:35.
TMZ also reports that Conan's people met with NBC on Tuesday afternoon presumably to negotiate a settlement/exit.
Ouch. I like Conan and I hope he gets another show for me to watch. Is there another show like his that you guys would recommend?
“Well, that’s for the courts to decide.”
NBC is getting hatred from everybody, so the cleverest thing would probably be to just fire Leno and let Conan have the time he needs to attract more viewers. NBC was by far the best network in the 90s, but now they’re just a steaming pile of shit.
Conan’s statement is the only note of class and charm in this whole sordid mess.
Beyond that, I imagine the possibility of a long protracted argument about just what “Tonight” means. Years ago, when Tom Snyder debuted his “Tomorrow” show, it seemed to highlight precisely that “Tonight” was tonight, and “Tomorrow” was tomorrow, at least as far as NBC was concerned; that is to say, Monday night’s “Tonight Show” was on Monday night, not Tuesday morning, whereas “Tomorrow” was on the next day. It’s reasonable to say that, therefore, everyone understood that the “Tonight Show” had to start before midnight. If it didn’t, then it couldn’t really be the “Tonight Show” regardless of what NBC chose to call it. NBC boasts of its long tradition with the “Tonight Show” — well, this is part of the tradition – the fact that NBC, all its employees, and all its viewers understood that the “Tonight Show” has to begin before 12:00 am. If it doesn’t, then it’s NBC that’s in violation of its contract with Conan.
Here’s an equivalent situation: Imagine that NBC had a successful performer working for them, and they told this person, “Work for us for five years, and, at the end of that period, we’ll make you the permanent host of Saturday Night Live.” Let’s say, then, that the performer did what he was told and, at the end of five years, they told him, “Congratulations! You’re now the permanent host of SNL. Only the show will now be broadcast only at two p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, and it will be pre-recorded. But the good news is it will still be called Saturday Night Live!”
Well, that performer would have a right to say he had been hoodwinked. If the show is not on on Saturday, isn’t on at night, and isn’t live, it doesn’t matter what they call it; it’s not Saturday Night Live.
Here’s another hypothetical: imagine if, at the beginning of 2009, NBC told Jay and Conan, “You’re both going to do the exact same show you’ve done for years, in the same city and studio, and on the same set, at the same time-slot. In fact, nothing at all will change, except Jay’s show at 11:35 will now be called the Jay Leno Show, and Conan’s show at 12:35 will now be called “The Tonight Show.” Well, Conan, after waiting all these years, would have a right to say he’d been hoodwinked, and there’s probably not a jury in America that wouldn’t agree with him. But how would that situation be substantially different from what we have today?
In short, I believe that Conan would have a winnable case, should he wish to proceed with litigation. If a show is not on this night, but, technically, the next calendar day, then it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s not the “Tonight Show”. To quote an old expression, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
In light of all this, I believe NBC should pay him his severance and release him from all contractual obligations.
NBC needs to cut Leno loose. Let Conan have “The Tonight Show” and end this public debacle once and for all. IF Leno returns to 11:35 p.m., whether as host of “Tonight” or “Jay Leno Show”, the majority of TV viewing public won’t follow. Jay has a bad stench about him. He RETIRED last year with a public on-air goodbye, only to return 4 months later in a prime time debacle. Now that that’s over, he wants his old job back. Too late, you gave it up (willingly or not), step aside and let Conan have his time in the spotlight. Go to Vegas, fix your cars, go to ABC, FOX, whereever, just GO!
NBC won’t cut Leno loose for a simple reason. They can re-structure Leno’s deal to put Leno on at 11:35 with virtually no penalty, Leno seems to want that timeslot moreso than 10 PM, and by the contract according to this post, moving The Tonight Show to 12:05 does not violate Conan’s contract. By announcing the plan that’s in place now, NBC can either keep both at no penalty, or keep one at no penalty, while if they wanted to fire Leno before August 2011, they’d have to pay a very significant penalty.
Yeah, I read this yesterday. If his contract did have an 11:35 requirement things would probably be different. I wonder if NBC specifically didn’t want one in case this happened. Either way, Conan can’t be happy with his lawyers that wrote the contract this morning.
When Jay took over after Johnny, and Dave was ready to bolt, NBC offered him the Tonight Show, but he would have to wait a year until Jay’s contract was up. Dave asked Johnny, who told him to move on, that somehow NBC would find a way to cheat him out of the deal. Johnny was right. Deja Vu…all over again!
The accountants are going to have to take a back seat to the lawyers on this one.
Why doesn’t NBC move Jay over to one of their cable networks like Bravo and be done with it?
Technically, the “penalty clause” in both their contracts are more likely a liquidated damages clause. Penalty clauses tend to be a form of punishment like punitive damages in tort cases and since punitive damages are seldom awarded in contract cases, such a clause tend to be disfavored. A liquidated damages clause is designed to compensate the offended party to a contract rather than punish. It’s semantics, but depending on the amount and nature of the liquidated damages should NBC breach either contract, the clause might be found to be a penalty clause in disguise.
Hey, does Jay Leno’s contract guarantee Prime Time? Maybe NBC can move him back to midday.
Given the choice, I would rather lose Jay than Conan.
Wow
People in Broadcast Media pulling a shyster stunt.
Who knew?
NBC = Nobody Backed Conan
’nuff said
“Jonathan says:
January 13, 2010 at 3:23 am
When Jay took over after Johnny, and Dave was ready to bolt, NBC offered him the Tonight Show, but he would have to wait a year until Jay’s contract was up. Dave asked Johnny, who told him to move on, that somehow NBC would find a way to cheat him out of the deal. Johnny was right. Deja Vu…all over again”
Wow is this really true? How do we know this. So NBC already did this nonsense. This is Conan all over again. I think they both should leave.
@Kay Lhota
According to the TMZ article, Leno’s contract specifically guarantees a 10:00 PM time period, so even to move him to 11:30 they’ll have to re-negotiate his contract.
I do not hate Conan, but just think he is mediocre…I feel bad for how he is being treated…but I will not be missing his show on NBC, but I think we all should boycott LENO if he is back on NBC at 11:35. Leno, if he had any principle’s should not have even warmed up to the idea of moving his show back to the later hour. Oh! Money
Will Seinfeld take over for Conan now?
http://www.popeater.com/2009/12/17/jerry-seinfeld-to-replace-conan-obrien/
Also reports are Jay may walk too
http://www.popeater.com/2010/01/13/jay-leno-leaving-nbc/#comments
NBC should just pony up. They made a stupid “have your cake and eat it too” deal in 2004 to keep both their late-night talents. They should have let Conan if he so chose. Leno was doing fine with “The Tonight Show” and Conan was so blinded by the so-called prestige of the franchise that he didn’t realize that his brand of humor isn’t even the best fit for it.
He should have left five years ago. NBC should have had the balls to stick with Jay. Conan indirectly got himself into this mess by making such a bad deal with NBC. NBC run by a bunch of buffoons. The affiliates shouldn’t be weepin’ and a-wailin’ now because they ALL were on board with the 10pm Leno less than a year ago. Any general manager who didn’t see this coming should be ousted from their position.
The affiliates should have pushed back harder with NBC.
Conan now is the unfortunate victim by his own ambitious hand. NBC can’t keep them both and needs to make a decision. Conan is 100% in the right to reject the 1205 show. If that means he is out of a job, then so be it. He’s a creative guy with a great fan base, resources and experience.
The dignifed thing to do is bounce. NBC needs to stop trying to protect their own interests and do right by Conan.
NBC needs to let someone go. Personally, I think they need to invest in Conan because of the younger audience and because Conan himself is younger. He is not necessarily getting worse ratings because people don’t like his show, but because Jay’s show is affecting the entire lineup that comes behind him.
I have to laugh though. Letterman is having a ball with this whole thing.