Conan O'Brien will end his short-lived stint as host of The Tonight Show today after signing a $45 million ($50 million) exit deal with NBC that ends two weeks of embarrassing on-air bickering and allows Jay Leno to return to the flagship late night comedy program.
After more than a week of negotiations, NBC announced late yesterday it had agreed to release O'Brien from his contract after seven months and that he would be free to take a new job elsewhere after September 1.
The struggling network, already bottom of the four big US television networks and now the butt of jokes by its own and rival comics, said Leno will resume The Tonight Show on March 1.
Leno hosted the program for 17 years, making it the top-rated late night talk show on television.
He handed over to O'Brien in June 2009, only to see audiences slump.
"We're pleased that Jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed brilliantly and successfully for many years," said Jeff Gaspin, NBC TV entertainment chairman.
Media analysts expected it will take time for Leno, who has been painted as the villain in the drama, to recover The Tonight Show audience.
"It is going to be a long path to recovery for NBC. It is not going to happen overnight," said Marc Berman, a senior TV writer with Mediaweek.
NBC did not release details of the deal with O'Brien. But two people with knowledge of the settlement said that of the total amount, $US32.5 million will go to O'Brien and about $US12 million to his staff.
NBC said O'Brien would end his run today with actors Will Ferrell and Tom Hanks as the last guests.
The network will air reruns of his The Tonight Show next week ahead of its blanket coverage of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February.
The re-runs are not expected to include O'Brien's most recent shows, which included bitter lines like: "NBC is run by brainless sons of goats who eat money and crap trouble" joke on Tuesday.
Rival network Fox, which has no late night talk show, said last week it was interested in talking to O'Brien.
Some media watchers have said Viacom's Comedy Central could be a good fit for O'Brien, whose humour appeals to younger viewers.
But Comedy Central, which is already home to popular news satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, on Thursday declined to comment on whether it was interested in O'Brien.
NBC has been in turmoil since announcing the failure on January 10 of its five-month-old, cost-cutting experiment with The Jay Leno Show at 10pm due to poor ratings and pressure from its local affiliates.
The 10pm slot is traditionally the home of scripted, expensive drama on US television.
O'Brien said he would not cooperate with NBC's plan to reshuffle its late night line-up, effectively forcing a showdown between himself and Leno.
- Reuters
