Conan Quits? O’Brien Announces He Won’t Do Tonight Show At 12:05am

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by Steve Krakauer | 3:31 pm, January 12th, 2010

» 7 comments

Well this is huge. Conan O’Brien has announced he will not host The Tonight Show as NBC had wished – at 12:05amET.

But O’Brien is not going quietly, or, notably, through the NBC public relations chain. Here’s some of the very revealing letter.

The New York Times has the full letter:

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…
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.

Needless to say, this is enormous news. All cable networks are covering it like a breaking news story, including, uncomfortably, MSNBC.

A lot more to come. A lot. Get ready.

> Update: Here’s video of MSNBC discussing the breaking news:

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sarainitaly

Jay Leno needs to just say no, and retire. This was an excellent letter on Conan’s part. This, I believe, will damage Leno – just walk away Jay.
Pat Doherty

Good for Conan.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

I’m a Dave man, but put me down for Team Conan.
Johnny M

Very classy way for Conan to tell NBC where to shove it. Ive watched Conan since the very beginning, and Im starting to see he is getting very comfortable at the Tonight Show – its only a matter of time before the ratings pick up just like it did when he started Late Night. Hopefully for NBC’s sake they are smart enough not to pull the plug too soon. Going backwards after making a decision usually doesnt work out the way you expect.
puck30

Jay was on top and NBC tried to be cute. Instead they got smoked. I don’t blame Jay at all here. This was Zucker & NBC’s doing. Any Goodwill they have just went down the drain.

If they would have cancelled Jay at 10pm, he just would have went to FOX. Now Conan will go and that’s a good thing. With Conan being young, he can go and work on building his audience. How many more years do Jay & Dave have left?

Jay will get back his #1 spot for now & Conan will move into second place rather soon.

In the long term this will work out very well for Conan & FOX & Conan’s agent.
m

Jay should have his show bumped to 12:05.
Ken

Who was the genius that put Leno before Conan?

Didn’t they realize that leno would cannibalize Conan’s market to some degree?

Leno needs to step down. That audience will watch the tonight show and everything will be solved.

Same thing would have happenned if Carson had a show airing before Leno.

Leno would not have stood a chance.