Conan comes out of this ever richer, and will probably get a big deal at Fox.
NBC reportedly agrees to pay Conan $30M
Deal to vacate time slot still to be formally signed, sources tell TheWrap
By Sharon Waxman
TheWrap.com
updated 7:25 p.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 15, 2010
NBC has its way out of the Conan Crisis.
The network has agreed to pay O'Brien $30 million to vacate the 11:35 p.m. "Tonight Show," individuals involved in the negotiations have told TheWrap.
The deal, which may still be in the process of finalization, could be announced as early as Friday.
Individuals in O'Brien's camp declined to comment.
NBCU President and CEO Jeff Zucker, NBCU Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin and Co-Chairman NBC Entertainment and NBC Televison Studio Marc Graboff were involved in the final, all-night negotiations. The deal was brokered by Universal COO Ron Meyer, who was brought in on Tuesday, after talks had reached an impasse.
Key terms to the agreement were worked out between Meyer and Rick Rosen, Conan's agent at WME.
The deal came following a battle between the two camps over whether O'Brien's contract specifically guaranteed that "The Tonight Show" must air at 11:35 p.m.
Guarantee or no?
As TheWrap previously reported, Team Conan was insisting that NBC has breached O'Brien's contract because, it argued, the deal had a timeslot guarantee.
NBC's response: No, there is no such guarantee of a specific timeslot for "Tonight." So as long as we keep something called "The Tonight Show" on the air, there is no breach.
If NBC had been in breach, it would have owed Conan around $40 million (and as much as $50 million, according to some reports), as a penalty.
People close to NBC insisted the network would not yield on this point — it wouldn''t admit it had breached O'Brien's deal.
Pay or play
One solution that had been on the table Friday, according to TheWrap's Josef Adalian: Agreeing to disagree over the timeslot issue and instead settling on a pay or play fee.
Under this proposal, the sooner O'Brien starts a new gig -- if he starts one -- the less money it would have to pay. So if Conan managed to land a new job at Fox within a year, the Peacock might shell out less than the full $30 million.
It's unlear if that's how the two sides settled out.
As TheWrap first reported, NBC had also been looking to enforce some sort of non-compete period in which Conan couldn't work for anyone else, period. The parties had been looking at a time as early as September or as late as next January for O'Brien to be free.
With talks entering the final stages, positioning over what led to this crisis started heating up.
Team NBC started the assault by putting sports czar Dick Ebersol on the phone with the New York Times, who tore into O'Brien in a Friday interview. Then, Conan's camp made it clear Friday that it was "absolutely untrue" that O'Brien's deal didn't have timeslot protection.
NBC responded by questioning the abilties of O'Brien's legal teams in the same sort of language Ebersol had used to slam O'Brien's hosting skills.
"All the chatter is just his reps covering up for their massive f--- up," an NBC insider said. "Leno had timeslot protection in his deal, Letterman has it in his.
But Team Coco never negotiated for it."
O'Brien's lawyer, Leigh Brecheen at Bloom Hergott, could be quite embarrassed if it turns out there was no timeslot guarantee.
But O'Brien's camp believes NBC was just trying to change the subject from its own massive mishandling of the late-night mess.
In any case, that's now all for historians to figure out. The question now is: What's next for O'Brien.
Fox has expressed interest in the host, but must first determine whether it's worth the headaches that would come with having to get affiliates on board.
My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
As somebody who grew up in Leno's hometown of Andover, and who has been a supporter for years, I am totally over him and now NBC. The whole treatment of Conan on this has been terrible. And remember it's not just him. He even mentioned on one of this week's episodes all the people who uprooted their families from NYC to LA for the show, and NBC just shits on them too. Not that I cared to watch NBC much before, but I kinda want to personally boycott them now (sorry The Office), that's just not how you go about your shit.
I don't know norm. I think Conan failed mainly because he's not very funny. Leno is no Dave Chapelle but he's got a little more comic brilliance than Conan. I just can't believe that NBC would think his brand of stupid ass humor plus he has no great bits to speak of to compete against Letterman.
On top of that, Letterman had the Palin debacle and the cheating scandal that helped boost his rating over the past several months.
It was just no competition. Conan doesn't offer anything significant, This is coming from a fucking comedic genius. Yes, that's right....me
senor donkey, i am just giving the reasoning of the boneheads that did this...personally, i think conan should have stuck to writing...he just isn't that good of a performer/host imo and can't interview worth a damn...but he is funny evidenced by his work on the simpsons which alone puts him in the comedy hall of fame
hollywood is obsessed with youth...anything that attracts younger viewers and their discretionary income is all their after so z(f)ucker wasn't exactly wrong in his plans to replace leno...but he should have waited until the ratings started to drop before intitiating a succession...but he wanted to keep conan and his current fan base
conan was only given 7 months to attract viewers...for his first 2-3 seasons, leno was constantly losing to dave...then came the hugh grant interview and nbc's strong primetime ratings and viola...jay's #1
Then Conan needs to score himself an interview with Tiger.
you know what...its funny but if he did score a tiger interview about a month or two ago, he probably would not be in this position right now. that interview would probably be bigger than hugh grants.
in the end---i hope leno blows at 11:30. it would be great to see him do worse than conan was doing...and then for conan to beat him when he goes to fox.
i tried watching leno's monologue last night and it was...painful. just excruciating. he sucks.
conan shouldn't have to put up with this...his lawyers suck
Conan O'Brien, NBC Settlement -- No Trash Talk
Posted Jan 16th 2010 4:22PM by TMZ Staff
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.
O'Brien's NBC departure leaves bits behind
Matthew Belloni and Nellie Andreeva
Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:42pm EST
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The Masturbating Bear is dead.
As a deal nears for Conan O'Brien's exit from NBC, one thing is certain: The characters and recurring comedy bits O'Brien originated during his 16-plus years on "Late Night" and "The Tonight Show" will not follow the host when he loses his coveted 11:35 p.m. slot to Jay Leno.
The network owns the intellectual property behind such popular O'Brien characters as Pimpbot 5000 and Conando, as well as recurring segments such as In the Year 3000 and Desk Driving. Sources involved in the settlement negotiations say NBC is keeping the copyrighted and trademarked elements of O'Brien's shows as part of the deal. That means the bits and characters will likely never be seen after O'Brien's "Tonight" ends its run January 22.
It's unclear who controls Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the crass canine puppet that is perhaps O'Brien's most popular recurring bit. Triumph was originated by writer and longtime O'Brien pal Robert Smigel, whose representatives declined to comment on its ownership.
In 1993, David Letterman got into a dustup with NBC when he departed "Late Night" for CBS' "Late Show." NBC attorneys attempted to prevent Letterman from taking intellectual property originated on "Late Night" to the comic's new home. Letterman responded by dropping certain bits and renaming other recurring segments -- "Viewer Mail" became "CBS Mailbag" and frequent guest Larry "Bud" Melman began referring to himself by his real name, Calvert DeForest. Letterman mocked the dispute on his first "Late Show" when NBC anchor Tom Brokaw interrupted the monologue and stole cue cards in the name of securing NBC's intellectual property.
O'Brien, if he lands at another late-night show, might be in a tougher spot. Unlike comic personalities Letterman and Leno, O'Brien began his career as a writer on "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons," and his shows relied more heavily on the cleverly scripted bits and outrageous characters. Losing those assets could hurt O'Brien as he looks for another home, although his "Tonight" had featured fewer of the characters than "Late Night" and the host -- who is considered one of the top comedy writers in the business -- may be looking for a fresh start. Sources close to him said he was not interested in taking his NBC characters with him.
Personally I like Leno, O'Brien and Letterman. But this whole mess was created by NBC. They should have negotiated a buyout with Leno. I think they were worried that if Leno went to Fox he would be number 1, just as he was at NBC. This has damaged Leno's reputation and not so sure he'll gain his number 1 spot in the ratings.
I am not so sure that NBC really wanted Conan on The Tonight Show, especially with Leno's ratings still at number 1. Either way Dave is the big winner here, he is now number 1.
If I was NBC I'd pay to get the Tiger interview or even his wife .
I have certain rules I live by ... My First Rule ... I don't believe anything the government tells me ... George Carlin
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
I have not followed this thread at all ... so, sorry if it's been posted before but, this was an interesting find from 2004 ... Leno's comments, especially after the 2:00 mark are ... well .... just watch
I have not followed this thread at all ... so, sorry if it's been posted before but, this was an interesting find from 2004 ... Leno's comments, especially after the 2:00 mark are ... well .... just watch
I have not followed this thread at all ... so, sorry if it's been posted before but, this was an interesting find from 2004 ... Leno's comments, especially after the 2:00 mark are ... well .... just watch
I have not followed this thread at all ... so, sorry if it's been posted before but, this was an interesting find from 2004 ... Leno's comments, especially after the 2:00 mark are ... well .... just watch
see back then we all thought this was jay's decision to leave...as it turns out, it was nbc asking jay to leave, their assumption that jay's ratings would have been decreasing by this time...turns out they weren't so they tried to keep him with that 10:00 show which was just short of "hello larry" as the worst show in tv history
however, at this point, jay should have been the bigger man and just left nbc when they canceled his show...he didn't and has proved that he is a massive tool
ive never once heard a Leno joke that i couldnt already guess the generic punchline before he said it. terribly unfuuny person. and that Jaywalking shit is so fake its pathetic.
ive never once heard a Leno joke that i couldnt already guess the generic punchline before he said it. terribly unfuuny person. and that Jaywalking shit is so fake its pathetic.
whats the only thing worse than jaywalking?
its when he has the jaywalking all stars or whatever its called when he has them in the studio pretending not to know the answers to obvious questions. UGH. :roll: :roll:
Mr. Conan is getting $45 million to just walk away.....right???? A fucking late night talk host is getting $45 million to get the fuck out of our faces.......
The U.S.A's government gave Haiti $100 million to help the 9 million people affected by that earthquake.....right?????
Tell me their isnt something wrong with this world we live in............
Take me piece by piece..... Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Mr. Conan is getting $45 million to just walk away.....right???? A fucking late night talk host is getting $45 million to get the fuck out of our faces.......
The U.S.A's government gave Haiti $100 million to help the 9 million people affected by that earthquake.....right?????
Tell me their isnt something wrong with this world we live in............
we're like 3 trillion dollars in debt dude! how much more do you want us to give?
Mr. Conan is getting $45 million to just walk away.....right???? A fucking late night talk host is getting $45 million to get the fuck out of our faces.......
The U.S.A's government gave Haiti $100 million to help the 9 million people affected by that earthquake.....right?????
Tell me their isnt something wrong with this world we live in............
we're like 3 trillion dollars in debt dude! how much more do you want us to give?
Its just fucking ridiculous....
That some comedian with a bad fucking haircut is getting $45 million dollars to get the fuck out our lives.....
Ya know what I mean????
How about NBC gives him $20 and tells him to fuck off?????
Take me piece by piece..... Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
That some comedian with a bad fucking haircut is getting $45 million dollars to get the fuck out our lives.....
Ya know what I mean????
How about NBC gives him $20 and tells him to fuck off?????
I know what you mean Speedy, but he signed a huge contract with them.
Professional athletes, Hollywood celebs, musicians, whatever...they make way to much f'n money. But there's nothing that's going to change.
I guess if you stopped watching (and attending) sports/games, watching movies/TV, and listening to music...
Alex Rodriguez signs a $250 million dollar contract??? So he can take steroids and hit a fucking baseball???
Conan gets $45 million to go fuck himself???
Letterman signs for what??? $20 million a fucking year?????
And yet our government can only afford (basically print some more money) $100 million (money we dont have) to help out 9 MILLION PEOPLE???
What the fuck???
Priorities???
And human beings are considered the most intelligent life-form??? hehehehehe
Its nothing but pure insanity......right???
Take me piece by piece..... Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Comments
NBC reportedly agrees to pay Conan $30M
Deal to vacate time slot still to be formally signed, sources tell TheWrap
By Sharon Waxman
TheWrap.com
updated 7:25 p.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 15, 2010
NBC has its way out of the Conan Crisis.
The network has agreed to pay O'Brien $30 million to vacate the 11:35 p.m. "Tonight Show," individuals involved in the negotiations have told TheWrap.
The deal, which may still be in the process of finalization, could be announced as early as Friday.
Individuals in O'Brien's camp declined to comment.
NBCU President and CEO Jeff Zucker, NBCU Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin and Co-Chairman NBC Entertainment and NBC Televison Studio Marc Graboff were involved in the final, all-night negotiations. The deal was brokered by Universal COO Ron Meyer, who was brought in on Tuesday, after talks had reached an impasse.
Key terms to the agreement were worked out between Meyer and Rick Rosen, Conan's agent at WME.
The deal came following a battle between the two camps over whether O'Brien's contract specifically guaranteed that "The Tonight Show" must air at 11:35 p.m.
Guarantee or no?
As TheWrap previously reported, Team Conan was insisting that NBC has breached O'Brien's contract because, it argued, the deal had a timeslot guarantee.
NBC's response: No, there is no such guarantee of a specific timeslot for "Tonight." So as long as we keep something called "The Tonight Show" on the air, there is no breach.
If NBC had been in breach, it would have owed Conan around $40 million (and as much as $50 million, according to some reports), as a penalty.
People close to NBC insisted the network would not yield on this point — it wouldn''t admit it had breached O'Brien's deal.
Pay or play
One solution that had been on the table Friday, according to TheWrap's Josef Adalian: Agreeing to disagree over the timeslot issue and instead settling on a pay or play fee.
Under this proposal, the sooner O'Brien starts a new gig -- if he starts one -- the less money it would have to pay. So if Conan managed to land a new job at Fox within a year, the Peacock might shell out less than the full $30 million.
It's unlear if that's how the two sides settled out.
As TheWrap first reported, NBC had also been looking to enforce some sort of non-compete period in which Conan couldn't work for anyone else, period. The parties had been looking at a time as early as September or as late as next January for O'Brien to be free.
With talks entering the final stages, positioning over what led to this crisis started heating up.
Team NBC started the assault by putting sports czar Dick Ebersol on the phone with the New York Times, who tore into O'Brien in a Friday interview. Then, Conan's camp made it clear Friday that it was "absolutely untrue" that O'Brien's deal didn't have timeslot protection.
NBC responded by questioning the abilties of O'Brien's legal teams in the same sort of language Ebersol had used to slam O'Brien's hosting skills.
"All the chatter is just his reps covering up for their massive f--- up," an NBC insider said. "Leno had timeslot protection in his deal, Letterman has it in his.
But Team Coco never negotiated for it."
O'Brien's lawyer, Leigh Brecheen at Bloom Hergott, could be quite embarrassed if it turns out there was no timeslot guarantee.
But O'Brien's camp believes NBC was just trying to change the subject from its own massive mishandling of the late-night mess.
In any case, that's now all for historians to figure out. The question now is: What's next for O'Brien.
Fox has expressed interest in the host, but must first determine whether it's worth the headaches that would come with having to get affiliates on board.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34886438/ns ... elevision/
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
you know what...its funny but if he did score a tiger interview about a month or two ago, he probably would not be in this position right now. that interview would probably be bigger than hugh grants.
in the end---i hope leno blows at 11:30. it would be great to see him do worse than conan was doing...and then for conan to beat him when he goes to fox.
i tried watching leno's monologue last night and it was...painful. just excruciating. he sucks.
Conan O'Brien, NBC Settlement -- No Trash Talk
Posted Jan 16th 2010 4:22PM by TMZ Staff
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.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/16/conan-obr ... z0cozVQs2h
http://video.hollywoodreporter.com/serv ... 2040671001
Matthew Belloni and Nellie Andreeva
Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:42pm EST
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The Masturbating Bear is dead.
As a deal nears for Conan O'Brien's exit from NBC, one thing is certain: The characters and recurring comedy bits O'Brien originated during his 16-plus years on "Late Night" and "The Tonight Show" will not follow the host when he loses his coveted 11:35 p.m. slot to Jay Leno.
The network owns the intellectual property behind such popular O'Brien characters as Pimpbot 5000 and Conando, as well as recurring segments such as In the Year 3000 and Desk Driving. Sources involved in the settlement negotiations say NBC is keeping the copyrighted and trademarked elements of O'Brien's shows as part of the deal. That means the bits and characters will likely never be seen after O'Brien's "Tonight" ends its run January 22.
It's unclear who controls Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the crass canine puppet that is perhaps O'Brien's most popular recurring bit. Triumph was originated by writer and longtime O'Brien pal Robert Smigel, whose representatives declined to comment on its ownership.
In 1993, David Letterman got into a dustup with NBC when he departed "Late Night" for CBS' "Late Show." NBC attorneys attempted to prevent Letterman from taking intellectual property originated on "Late Night" to the comic's new home. Letterman responded by dropping certain bits and renaming other recurring segments -- "Viewer Mail" became "CBS Mailbag" and frequent guest Larry "Bud" Melman began referring to himself by his real name, Calvert DeForest. Letterman mocked the dispute on his first "Late Show" when NBC anchor Tom Brokaw interrupted the monologue and stole cue cards in the name of securing NBC's intellectual property.
O'Brien, if he lands at another late-night show, might be in a tougher spot. Unlike comic personalities Letterman and Leno, O'Brien began his career as a writer on "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons," and his shows relied more heavily on the cleverly scripted bits and outrageous characters. Losing those assets could hurt O'Brien as he looks for another home, although his "Tonight" had featured fewer of the characters than "Late Night" and the host -- who is considered one of the top comedy writers in the business -- may be looking for a fresh start. Sources close to him said he was not interested in taking his NBC characters with him.
I am not so sure that NBC really wanted Conan on The Tonight Show, especially with Leno's ratings still at number 1. Either way Dave is the big winner here, he is now number 1.
If I was NBC I'd pay to get the Tiger interview or even his wife
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
Fuck Leno.
Fuck NBC.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6d1caa ... rel=player
"I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass." --- Pedro Martinez
what an asshole.
www.cluthelee.com
www.cluthe.com
Wow, that's interesting. "You pass it on..." Well, in all fairness, I supposed it's NBC's call as opposed to Leno, but still, interesting.
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
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see back then we all thought this was jay's decision to leave...as it turns out, it was nbc asking jay to leave, their assumption that jay's ratings would have been decreasing by this time...turns out they weren't so they tried to keep him with that 10:00 show which was just short of "hello larry" as the worst show in tv history
however, at this point, jay should have been the bigger man and just left nbc when they canceled his show...he didn't and has proved that he is a massive tool
whats the only thing worse than jaywalking?
its when he has the jaywalking all stars or whatever its called when he has them in the studio pretending not to know the answers to obvious questions. UGH. :roll: :roll:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9il9xYVDWY
legally he couldn't talk about it in a 'serious manner' and he pulled the 'my crew' card :roll: and jay, what about conan's crew?
in any event, this was all nbc's fault and i hope comcast has a great time trying to fix this mess
Yeah, I love how he tries to play Mr. Innocent...once again!! Sorry Jay, we've all heard it before.
Go fuck yourself Leno!
By Nathan Rabin
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/01/ ... eno-essay/
http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show ... vs=Default
saw that last night. hillarious!
"I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass." --- Pedro Martinez
Too bad.
Fuck you Jay!
The U.S.A's government gave Haiti $100 million to help the 9 million people affected by that earthquake.....right?????
Tell me their isnt something wrong with this world we live in............
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
the norm macdonald thing was pretty funny too. i think that was tuesday night though
we're like 3 trillion dollars in debt dude! how much more do you want us to give?
That some comedian with a bad fucking haircut is getting $45 million dollars to get the fuck out our lives.....
Ya know what I mean????
How about NBC gives him $20 and tells him to fuck off?????
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
I know what you mean Speedy, but he signed a huge contract with them.
Professional athletes, Hollywood celebs, musicians, whatever...they make way to much f'n money. But there's nothing that's going to change.
I guess if you stopped watching (and attending) sports/games, watching movies/TV, and listening to music...
Like I said, it's not fair, but what can ya' do?
Alex Rodriguez signs a $250 million dollar contract??? So he can take steroids and hit a fucking baseball???
Conan gets $45 million to go fuck himself???
Letterman signs for what??? $20 million a fucking year?????
And yet our government can only afford (basically print some more money) $100 million (money we dont have) to help out 9 MILLION PEOPLE???
What the fuck???
Priorities???
And human beings are considered the most intelligent life-form??? hehehehehe
Its nothing but pure insanity......right???
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....