NBC Drops Jay Leno from Prime Time

After many days of speculation and rumors, NBC has finally gone public with the decision to sack Jay Leno from prime time and to send him back to the late night slot. Though Leno has not yet taken up the offer, the network is confident he, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon will all say yes to the new timeslot, People says.

According to Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Entertainment, the deal is not yet done. As of yesterday, Sunday, January 10, all parties were informed of the new decision the studio had made, but they are yet to come up with an official answer. Hopes are high, of course, that Leno will agree to have his show moved from 10 p.m. to 11.35 p.m., as the new schedule would have it.

Also as per the new schedule, Conan O’Brien would go up next, followed by Fallon. “It’s not a done deal yet,” Gaspin tells People. At the same time, the chairman says that The Jay Leno Show “did not meet affiliate needs,” wherefrom the move to have him out of prime time. Still, both he and Conan O’Brien have been “incredibly gracious and professional” through it all, the NBC chairman further says.

“Beyond that is a private conversation and when it all settles, you can talk to them about that. We’re back in conversation tomorrow. Conan’s motivation will become more clear as time goes on. We gave something important to him, which was The Tonight Show, made it clear that it was moving with him. Conan wanted the franchise of The Tonight Show; Jay wanted to tell jokes at 11:30. Still things [need] to be worked out,” Gaspin goes on to say.

Nevertheless, reports in the media, as summed up by Boston Herald’s The Edge, say that O’Brien will come out as a winner no matter the decision he makes. Talk is intensifying that Fox is courting him more assiduously these days, while reports have it that a clause in his contract says he’s to get a “multimillion dollar payout” in case his timeslot is changed, regardless whether he stays with the network or not.