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Conan: I won’t budge

Conan O'Brien issues a public statement to the "People of Earth," that says he not interested in a later NBC timeslot, and he has no other offers.

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Statement from Conan O’Brien:

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

26 Responses

  7. Yes same here Tbone that was great.Did anyone see Jay tonight he started to joke about his network,everything then went to black.They then went to commecials,they came back with Jay starting a segment,his 10 or so minutes at the beginning were wiped.Jay did’nt say anything and Sandra Bullock said to him how long will i be shown tonight,will i be partially invisible or not.Everyone just burst out laughing

  8. Here is a great wrap up of all monologues relating to the Late Night War.

    tv.gawker.com/5446744/late-night-wars-conan-obrien-soldiers-on-with-nbcjay-leno+bashing-monologue-kimmel-and-letterman-join-in-leno-avoids

  10. Both Conan and Jay are absolute crap – so not funny and I can’t stand watching either! Jimmy Fallon is ok.
    Letterman is by far the best. No comparison. I’m not a fan of Rove but even he is better than Conan and Jay!

  16. I absoutely agree with everything Conan has said. The best thing that NBC should so in my opinion is axe Leno, bring back the 10 pm dramas and leave The Tonight Show exactly where it is.

  17. Why bump a great show for a proven mediocre one? Conan is king, Jay Leno has never really been that funny, and doesn’t deserve to push into the schedule – especially since he “retired”…

  19. Considering he moved his show and life from New York to LA to do the Tonight Show, I couldn’t agree more with him.

    Perhaps Jay Leno has simpy had his day. I thought Jay was meant to retire last year in any case.

  22. Well technically Michael if what I’ve read is correct; NBC have the ability to shift Conan’s show to 12.05am without breaking the contract; so if Conan happened to walk he wouldn’t get paid out; and could be penalised as well.

    Will be interesting to see this play out.

    Conan’s press release above is very classy; I like conan alot; I’ve been to tapings of Late Night and was fantastic; he interacted with the audience alot as well.

  24. what on earth are NBC thinking…their reaction to their woeful prime time schedule is to mess around with its highly successful late night schedule…mmm…very odd indeed.

  25. I think he has every right to be pi**ed….good on him for holding his ground. From what I understand he is not going to be without money either way – the network will probably sitll be obliged to pay out his remaining 3.5 year contract which would be tens of millions of dollars I would imagine…..

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