Conan O'Brien signs deal to leave NBC - USATODAY.com

Conan O'Brien signs deal to leave NBC - USATODAY.com

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Leno vs. Conan vs. NBC -- The War is On

Leno vs. Conan vs. NBC -- The War is On

Ratings soaring for O'Brien

from usatoday.com:

"PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Conan O'Brien's battle with his network certainly hasn't hurt his ratings.

With his jabs at NBC network executives apparently resonating in a country filled with the unemployed, viewership has soared.

O'Brien's ratings have been rising through the week, which was an extraordinary one in late-night television and saw O'Brien and David Letterman hurling barbed remarks at Jay Leno, and Leno firing back.

Tonight ratings Friday were 50% higher than they've been this season, and O'Brien beat CBS' Letterman, according to a preliminary Nielsen Co. estimate based on large markets. In the 18-to-49-year-old demographic that NBC relies on to set advertising prices, O'Brien even beat Leno's prime-time show.

Settlement talks continued Saturday on a deal that would let O'Brien leave NBC and restore Leno to the 11:35 p.m. time slot he occupied for 17 years through last spring.

O'Brien's team sees the ratings as vindication. His manager, Gavin Polone, on Saturday compared it to when Leno, trailing Letterman in the ratings in the mid-1990s, drew attention for the memorable appearance of Hugh Grant after his arrest. Leno passed Letterman in popularity and never looked back.

"People who never watched Conan before are saying, 'I'll try it,"' Polone said. "Now they're saying, 'this is good, I'll stick with it."'

It's doubtful they'll get the chance. O'Brien sounded halfway out the door on Friday's show, an exit prompted by his refusal to move his show to 12:05 a.m. at NBC's request. "By the time you see this, I'll be halfway to Rio in an NBC traffic helicopter," he said in his monologue.

He aired a skit where he was assaulted by gunfire after pulling his car into the studio parking lot. He also is showing "greatest hits" of his seven-month tenure.

But he pulled back from jokes about Leno. On Friday, Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, had said the crossfire between hosts "has definitely crossed the line.

"Jay is the consummate professional and one of the hardest-working people in television," Gaspin said. "It's a shame that he's being pulled into this."

Meanwhile, Polone denied a New York Post item Saturday, quoting an anonymous source, that said O'Brien's staff members are "furious" with O'Brien for negotiating an exit payment reportedly approaching $30 million while they are losing their jobs. Polone noted that O'Brien paid staff members himself during the Hollywood writers' strike, and was negotiating severance packages for his employees, many of whom moved from the New York area last year when O'Brien started onTonight.

Polone is also angry at NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, who told The New York Times this week that O'Brien was "an astounding failure" who had stubbornly resisted advice to broaden his show's appeal. O'Brien's people blame the show's ratings problems on the poor ratings of NBC's late local news and Leno's show before that.

Leno averaged 5.2 million viewers per night on his last season at the Tonight show, Nielsen said. O'Brien is averaging 2.5 million this season."

Conan O'Brien, NBC Settlement -- No Trash Talk

from tmz.com:

"Conan O'Brien can get a whole lot of money from NBC as a parting gift, but there will be strings attached -- not the least of which ... Conan cannot trash the network.

Sources tell us NBC wants a liquidated damages clause if Conan says anything disparaging about the network once he leaves. Essentially that means there is a clause in the contract that says Conan will automatically pay a predetermined amount of money if he says bad things about NBC.

And, as we have previously reported, NBC will demand that Conan not take another hosting job for a certain period of time.

Sources say NBC will be paying Conan a hefty sum, but that will be offset by any amount Conan makes for his next hosting gig. So if Conan makes a deal with FOX, NBC can reduce the amount it pays Conan by the amount FOX forks over.

FYI -- we've learned Conan's existing contract already has an offset clause in the event he leaves NBC and takes another job.

Bottom line -- Conan won't be taking NBC to the cleaners."

Report: Conan O'Brien Ready to Leave NBC Over Late Night Shake Up

'

from foxnews.com

"Five months after relocating to Los Angeles, Conan O'Brien reportedly ready to leave NBC over talks to move Jay Leno back to his old spot on the late-night lineup. The peacock ruffled Conan O'Brien's feathers -- and now he's ready to fly the coop.

The "Tonight Show" host feels like the redheaded stepchild of late-night TV after NBC's abrupt decision to cancel Jay Leno's10 p.m. experiment after just five months -- and return the car-loving comic to O'Brien's coveted 11:35 p.m. slot.

"This level of sh- - -iness was not expected," one source said.

SLIDESHOW: Some popular Conan bits that could make comebacks.

"He's done a great job for NBC. He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA. And five months later, they repay him like this?"

As it stands now, the source said, "Conan would be happier somewhere else."

VOTE: Should Conan stay or should he go?

The pompadoured host has "many options," including a move to Fox, which for years has been looking to create its own late-night show.

In fact, he has already spoken with Fox, The Wall Street Journal's Web site reported last night.

NBC yesterday said Leno's 10 p.m. talk show would end on Feb. 11, with the start of the Winter Olympics.