An NBC
spokesperson on the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 15 denied a report on website
TheWrap.com
that indicated NBC had reached an agreement with latenight host Conan O'Brien
to vacate the 11:35 p.m. Tonight Show.
The
report follows days of back and forth between O'Brien's reps and the network
after the host rejected NBC's plan to move The Jay Leno Show from 10
p.m. nightly to run a half-hour at 11:35 and shift The Tonight Show with
O'Brien back to 12:05.
In a
sharply worded statement released to the media Jan. 12, O'Brien said that he
believed moving The Tonight Show to 12:05 a.m. would "seriously damage what I
consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting."
TheWrap
said NBC would pay O'Brien $30 million to vacate "The Tonight Show" and that an
announcement would be made later Friday.
