The Future of Conan O' Brien

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As many of you have heard by now, NBC is considering whether or not to fire Conan O' Brien as host of the Tonight Show and bring back Jay Leno. This is no longer a rumor by gossip website, TMZ. Bill Carter, a reporter for the New York Times, and a late night TV insider has confirmed the story.

So what now?

Well, this is what's going to happen. First, NBC will pay O' Brien a $40 million fee for breaking their 2-year contract. Then, they will stress over what to do during the now vacant 10pm hour. It'll probably be news for the time being. Then, ABC and FOX will enter a bidding war over O' Brien. The winner will be FOX. They want it more. They're the only major TV network without a successful late night block. However, that will also require them to re-structure their entire primetime line-up. FOX has always given the 10pm hour to affliates. Some affliates air local news. That's fine. Others, however, do not. They air re-runs of old and current TV shows. That is NOT a good lead-in for Conan. So, FOX might be forced to create 5 hours of new programming. Either that or force all their affilates to air an hour of local news and then air O' Brien at 11pm, which is 30 minutes before David Letterman and Leno.

This is all, of course, assuming that O' Brien will remain on network TV. Cable will come calling as well. Comedy Central will definitely make an offer. Their late night block is very successful with the powerhouse of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report. Can you imagine adding Conan to the mix? It's actually the best possible option. That is, of course, if Viacom (the parent company) can afford it. Anyone making an offer is going to be very much aware that he just added $40 million to his bank account. Will he be willing to take a pay cut just to join that powerhouse? Yes and no.

This is what I would do. Viacom, are you out there? Pay attention then. In August of 2012, David Letterman's contract with CBS (a network that's part of the Viacom family) will expire. Will Letterman renew? Chances are that...no...he won't. Why? Well, he'll be 65-years-old by then. So, he'll most likely retire. That leaves a spot open for a new host of the Late Show. So, this is what you can do, Viacom. Give Conan a temporary show on Comedy Central alongside Stewart and Colbert. Either at 10:30pm, as a lead-in, or at midnight. Whichever works best. Then, on August 2012, which is around the corner, just give him the Late Show. Put it in the contract. That would definitely win the bidding war against FOX.