We dont want him to go, so were going to give himThe Tonight Show.
I said, Well, Ive been No.
1 for 12 years.
I said, Okay.
How about until I fall to No.
2,thenyou fire me?
No, we made this decision.
I said, Thats fine.
Dont blame Conan OBrien.
Nice guy, good family guy, great guy.
He and I have talked, and not a problem since then.
Thats what managers and people do; they attempt to get something for their clients.
I said, Ill retire, just to avoid what happened the last time.
So time goes by, and we stay No.
1 up until the day we leave.
We hand… [applause here] No, no.
Okay, but Im leaving before my contract is out.
About six to eight months early.
I said to NBC, Would you release me from my contract.
They said, We want to keep you here.
What are your ideas?
They said, How about prime time?
I said, That will never work.
No, no, we want to put you on at 10:00.
We have done focus groups.
People will love you at 10:00.
Look at these studies showing Jays chin at 10:00.
People will go crazy.
Didnt seem like a good idea at the time.
I said, All right, can I keep my staff?
There are 175 people that work here.
I said, Can I keep my staff?
Yes, you’re able to.
We guarantee you two years on the air, guaranteed.
I agree to that.
Four months go by; we dont make it.
Meanwhile, Conans show during the summer were not on was not doing well.
The great hope was that we would help him.
Well, we didnt help him any, okay.
They come and go, This show isnt working.
We want to let you go.
Can you let me out of my contract?
No, youre still a valuable asset to this company.
How valuable can I be?
You fired me twice.
How valuable can I be?
So then, the affiliates are not happy.
The affiliates are the ones that own the TV stations.
I said, Whats your idea?
They said, Well, look, how about you do a half-hour show at 11:30?
I said, Okay, Im not crazy about doing a half hour, but okay.
What do you want to do with Conan?
I said, Okay.You think Conan will go for that?
[laughter from the audience] Almost guarantee you.
Shake hands, thats it.
I dont have a manager, I dont have an agent, thats my handshake deal.
Next thing I see, Conan has a story in the paper saying he doesnt want to do that.
I go, Yeah, Ill take the show back.
If thats what he wants to do.
This way, we keep our people working, fine.
So thats pretty much where we are.
It looks like we might be back at 11:30; Im not sure.
[applause] I dont know.
But through all of this through all of this, Conan OBrien has been a gentleman.
Hes a good guy.
I have no animosity towards him.
This is all business.
If you dont get the ratings, they take you off the air.
I think you know this town, you might do almost anything.
You get ratings, they keep you.
I dont get ratings; he wants.
That was NBCs solution.
It didnt work, so we might have an answer for you tomorrow.
So, well see.
Thats basically where it is.
