Why is it Jay's fault that he was asked to walk out on a contract that still had time on it?

That $40 M that Conan just got is what he would've been owed if Jay had not left before his contract term.

NBC made a deal with Conan that overlapped a contract that was already in place.

Jay put the most on the table from the start.

He has every right to take some of it back.

Thats pretty funny right there. ;):D

Could not put my finger on it but this is it. He just is not someone that I would hang with or go out for a beer with. Maybe the people on the left or right coast like him but not me...

Why Jay Leno and David Letterman Hate Each Other | PopEater.com

leno's always been a hack, johnny carson didn't even respect him

my wife has been on Letterman & Leno ....1) letterman has a bodyguard everywhere he goes won't talk to you, she says she didn't like him at all(arrogant) big ego 2)Leno, comes in talks to everybody, very warm , nice, even gives rides in his cars on the back lot( she got to ride in his Duesenberg).... still I liked Johnny Carson(youtube has a lot of his stuff)

And don't forget that Letterman has turned his studio into a "hostile work environment"/harem for decades.

Everyone has their own opinion. Glad that A LOT of people do not share the same feelings that you have.

I have more respect for a single lugnut on my 911 when compared to Letterman.

Conan? Just not my cup of tea. He could not pull in the ratings, period. NBC was losing money and market share.

Leno was still there, still under contract and still pulling people in. Not a difficult decision IMHO, even if Conan is unhappy.

i'll second that. I've worked with musical acts on letterman 3 times, and leno 5. letterman clears the studio when he's there,never seen him in the building. Jay is the total opposite, even with a 7:30 am load in Jay was already there, shakes your hand even though your not "talent" and even recognizes you and says "welcome back, good to see ya".Not to mention the cars. when i was there he drove a jag xk 120, a green hudson hornet, the 1000 hp toronado and the only regular car a new vette. And his producer had a nice 997 as well.

Did the old Conan show twice, fairly loose atmosphere, he enjoys chatting with the musos, good guitar player, seems like a nice guy.

I just read an article which showed that Jay lost only a small amount of viewership from 11:35PM to 10PM, 5.3 to 5.2 million.

The problem wasn't his "loss" of viewership, it was that viewership is supposed to be much higher in that timeslot. His original audience moved with him, and he picked up no one.

This created a problem with the 11PM news and the lead in for Conan. This problem here is non Jay vs. Conan, but of a bunch of stupid NBC executives that created this mess in the first place. NBC stated that they knew that Jay wasn't going to do as well as the dramas, but that they could accept lower ratings, and lower ad revenues, since the cost of the show was much much less. Again, this shows that the NBC executives were not focused on the big picture, only at these couple of shows.

Personally, I think that NBC should have worked to come up with a different show for Jay, and let Conan run. Or let Jay go. This whole thing shows what a bunch of idiots that Zucker and company are.

If Conan goes head to head with Jay and Dave at 11:30, will I watch? I'm sure I'll try it out. In the Central time zone, the FOX affiliate runs the late news an hour before the others. If Conan starts at 11PM, he might do well. I usually watch the local news, and my wife watches E!

were Conan and Leno friends?

Jay got Conan the late night gig. Conan had no experience in front of a camera. He was a writer for the Simpsons and an occasional voice. His first time live on TV was on the Leno show, when he was announced.

Not true, he was also a writer for SNL and had backround on-camera roles for years, sometimes even speaking roles...

I think you're right about SNL writer. But they re-ran the "Conan late night announcement/Coana appearence" during the transition last year. At the time, Jay even said/asked him about this being the first time on national TV.

Here ya go...

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I guess this was pulled from a recent Conan, with the info at the end. But they do talk about the fact that this is his first appearence on TV.