Conan O'Brien, NBC Reach Accord
(Updated to reflect latest details on Conan O'Brien and NBC's accord.)
NEW YORK (
) -- Conan O'Brien and
NBC
have reached a deal that will allow the talk show host to walk away from the network with millions of dollars.
After a long night of negotiations late Wednesday, NBC, owned by
General Electric
(GE) - Get Report
agreed Thursday to release O'Brien as host of the
The Tonight Show
in a $45 milllion deal. O'Brien will walk away with more than $33 million of that money, while the rest will go to his staff as severence pay.
O'Brien will make his final appearance as host of
The Tonight Show
Friday, January 22, NBC said in a statement.
O'Brien will be free to pursue other opportunities after September 1, 2010, NBC said. Observers believe that it's likely O'Brien will end up at another network by then.
News Corp.'s
(NWS) - Get Report
Fox network has already expressed interest in working on a show with O'Brien.
NBC said that Jay Leno will return to the
The Tonight Show
on March 1.
The talks between O'Brien and NBC began after the talk show host rejected the network's proposal to move his show to the 12:05 am slot amid slumping ratings. NBC had also proposed moving Jay Leno and his show back to the 11:35 pm slot. O'Brien saw this as a demotion and outright rejected the idea.
O'Brien's career at the "Tonight Show" has been short. There was reportedly still another two-and-a-half years left on his $10 million- to $20 million-a-year contract before the negotiations began.
-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York
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