NBC executive says: Jay's not going anywhere for a while

UPDATE: NBC has announced a June 2009 launch date for "Tonight Show with Conan."

I seem to have stirred up quite a storm with my discovery last week of this juicy quote buried inside a USA Today story about Jay Leno's car collection. Nine paragraphs in, Leno declares, "I am definitely done next year — with NBC."

Many observers, not just me, took this to mean that whatever negotiations were going on between the network and Leno had broken down. Rather than host a series of prime-time specials or do some other work for NBC, Leno was waiting for his contract to run out so that another network (read: ABC) could sign him up to compete against Letterman and the man who succeeded both Letterman and Leno at NBC, Conan O'Brien.

Last night, following NBC's presentations here at summer press tour, I spoke with Rick Ludwin, the longtime executive in charge of late night for NBC, and he said he had spoken to Leno about the quote.

"He doesn't deny that he said what he said," according to Ludwin. "What he meant to say was, 'I'm through with "The Tonight Show."' And he says, in an addendum that wasn't used in the quote, that (this) was made clear. So he was quite concerned that the quote was going to be misinterpreted as being a slam against NBC."

Ludwin also shared some details on the timing of the transition from Leno to Conan. A lot of critics seem awfully pessimistic about O'Brien's chances as host of "The Tonight Show," but those naysayers should remember one thing: For several months after Conan takes over, Leno will be nowhere in sight. That's because, according to Ludwin, Leno's deal runs out in fourth quarter of 2009. O'Brien will have been on the air for at least four months almost certainly have been on the air for several weeks by then. And Leno will have to first do a deal with ABC, hire a production team and get on the air — which all adds up to more than a half year's head start for O'Brien, plenty of time for him to iron out the kinks and start looking like the premiere host in late night television.

"It will be a similar situation, I think, to when Conan hosted the Emmys, which as you know he's done twice. And his approach then was that he felt he needed to entertain that audience ... (as if) none of them had seen his 12:30 show. I thought that was a really smart approach and it's how he's going to do the 11:30 show. It was obviously a much bigger stage, figuratively and literally, and he succeeded and did a wonderful job with the Emmys. He's going to do the same here. That's one reason we went with Conan. He's smart, he's funny and he's a real student of late night television."

More details:

• Conan's new studio audience in L.A. — he's having a stage built on the Universal Studios backlot instead of in beautiful downtown Burbank — will be about 400 seats. That's larger than Leno's audience capacity in Burbank.

• Ludwin is "hopeful" that "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" can originate from Studio 6B at Rockefeller Center, across the hall from 6A, where the current show is taped. WNBC, the local affiliate, has been doing news there for a quarter century but is moving and NBC is running the numbers on converting it to an audience facility. There's more history in 6B: Johnny Carson and Jack Paar both did their late night shows there, Ernie Kovacs did a daytime show there, and going back to radio days, Bob Hope and Martin & Lewis broadcast from 6B. The studio is also more flexible than 6A. "There's a gigantic structural girder in 6A right behind home base," said Ludwin, " and I guess it can't be taken out because then the building would be in danger of falling. That girder does not exist in 6B. It's always been a problem for us in 6A."

Previously on TV Barn: NBC's supposedly doomed late night future

Comments

[Thomas Hestand]

As soon as Conan hosts the Tonight Show will be when I start watching something else, anything else. If you think Conan is funny you would laugh at anything. I think he is pathetic.

[Adam Howard]

It will be very difficult to watch Conan. One thing that he may consider to win over the tv audience is to radically change his awful "bouffant" hair style

[Don]

Well Thomas, I just laughed at you... so maybe you're right.

[Sherri]

Jay's leaving the Tonight Show has been atopic of conversation in several groups I have been in. NO ONE and I mean not a single person in those groups can bear to watch Conan. His affectations, silly to the point of embarrassing gyrations, poor interviews and strange band leader all add up to poor TV.

If Jay is nowhere around for a few months, most of us will watch old reruns of MASH and Letterman occasionally until he comes back.

[Dave]

Ha. It's Jay that's pathetic. Humor at the lowest common denominator. The day that he leave is the day I can watch the Tonight Show again.