@Demon:
I can't find any news sources that say that NBC and/or Conan's staff have actually confirmed the 30 mil thing, the only things I've seen say NBC is still denying there is a payout.
Can someone give me a link?
If they can Conan, NBC's REALLY stupid… He's so much funnier than Leno... And this thing was all Leno's problem to begin with!
if Leno hadn't failed in the ratings on his new show, they wouldn't have tried to pull this stunt.
Conan's Ratings weren't "Bad", just lower than Jays old Tonight show Ratings since He's the new host and it takes some time for a new host to get Ratings (Gee, whoda thunkit?)
Conan's ratings were bad, unfortunately. He was losing soundly to Letterman, which hadn't happened in years. Part of the reason NBC wanted to pull this stunt was to put Leno back in a timeslot where he brought in ratings. Leno was given his show back because, well, he got ratings when he had it. Good ones. That's the whole reason they gave him a show in the first place.
Problem is, Leno and Conan's rating are hardly the issue, either, as NBC as a whole is tanking in the ratings. No one is watching it. Zucker and Pals were getting pressure from local affiliates because the ratings problem was hurting local news ratings, so instead of making any effort to improve Leno's ratings, or the ratings of NBC's tanking primetime lineup as a whole, NBC decided this would help their situation.
This is hardly some master plan by Leno. He's only getting the Tonight Show back because Conan left. Unless anyone here thinks Leno pulled some Xanatos Gambit out of his chin to manipulate Conan into giving him the Tonight Show back. Sadly, knowing some folks here, that's probably not far off…
@Refii:
Now I may not be a fancy big-shot poster like ffhc2008, but according to the news reported, and the fact that I have never heard in the history of television a network offering a host with abysmal ratings his choice of a show he was officially fired from according to Jay Leno's own words during his talk show.
So, then you missed the part that said Leno was winning handily in the ratings when he had the Tonight Show? Or are you choosing to ignore that because it makes it easier to hate on Leno?
Jay Leno got the tonight show from Letterman, who NBC was in negotiations with and was Carson's choice, and now from Conan who was promised the show for the past 6 years, and took a paycut to stay with the network rather than going to ABC (Jimmy Kimmel) in exchange for the Tonight Show (since its creation) at 11:30.
A host with failing ratings gets prime time positioning, and a host with superior ratings that is just starting out is fired. Make your own judgments, and don't rely on blogs.
Yes, the New York Times is a "blog"…
And obviously you're not reading those news articles too well if you think Conan was getting "superior ratings." Or that Conan was fired.
I'm just going to finish off with the fact that Conan had about a week to make a decision, if you were given a week to give up your dream-job that you worked hard with less money for the past 6 years to get and suddenly saw it become obsolete, wouldn't you be pissed?
And, again, I fail to see how Jay Leno is responsible for any of that. Y'know, the guy you flipped out over?