Conan O'Brien 'agrees deal to leave NBC'
Conan O'Brien 'agrees deal to leave NBC'
Thursday, 21, Jan 2010 04:00
By Lewis Bazley.
US television presenter Conan O'Brien has now signed an agreement to end his contract with NBC after a public stand-off, reports claim.
The Tonight Show host is to leave the network after an attempted rescheduling of his show by NBC bosses created a protracted period of negotiations.
Former Simpsons writer O'Brien took over the Tonight Show in June 2009 with Jay Leno moving to a 22:00 slot.
However, both shows achieved poor ratings and an attempt to keep both hosts happy by moving O'Brien to an after midnight slot backfired as he refused to host the Tonight Show at 00:05.
He wrote an open letter concerning the dispute earlier this month, saying a rescheduling of the Tonight Show would "seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting".
But after hinting at his imminent departure during Tuesday night's episode, he is now believed to have signed a severance package with NBC worth around $45 million (£28 million), with $33 million (£20 million) going to O'Brien and the reminder to his staff, according to reports.
In a statement, O'Brien's manager Gavin Polone said: "In the end, Conan was appreciative of the steps NBC made to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting out of his own pocket.
"Now he just wants to get back on the air as quickly as possible."
The host had joked during his opening monologue on Tuesday: "Hi, I'm Conan O'Brien, and I'm just three days away from the biggest drinking binge in history."
He continued: "Some papers are reporting that I'm legally prohibited from saying anything bad about NBC. But nobody said anything about speaking in Spanish.
"NBC esta manejado por hijos de cabras imbeciles que comen dinero y evacuan problemas," he added, translating as "NBC is run by brainless sons of goats who eat money and crap trouble".
An official announcement on O'Brien's departure from NBC - and Leno's expected move to an 23:35 slot - is expected later on Thursday.