Fox said to be confident stations would carry O'Brien
Fox TV executives considering a late-night talk show with Conan O'Brien are confident 60 percent to 70 percent of their local stations would be free to carry it, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
Other stations may have program commitments that keep them from coming on board by September, when O'Brien, 46, is free to start working again, said the person, who wasn't authorized to talk publicly.
O'Brien, who will consider all offers, would prefer to stay on broadcast TV and is interested in News Corp.'s Fox network, according to a person familiar with his thinking. He was released from his NBC contract today after refusing to host "The Tonight Show" in a later time period, a move designed to accommodate Jay Leno's return to 11:35 p.m.
Shannon Ryan, a spokeswoman for Fox, declined to comment. Rick Rosen, O'Brien's agent at the William Morris Endeavor Entertainment talent agency, didn't return calls and e-mail messages seeking comment. Leslee Dart, O'Brien's publicist, didn't respond to requests for comment.
Fox, the most-watched U.S. broadcast network in prime time among younger viewers, currently programs between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. and doesn't have a late-night talk show.
O'Brien as host of "The Tonight Show" has led much of this season in the 18-to-49 year-old audience, the age group most coveted by advertisers, and Fox's key demographic.
Waiting in Wings
Kevin Reilly, Fox's entertainment chief, said Jan. 11 that the network is interested in O'Brien. At the time, he said Fox was waiting for the situation at NBC to be resolved. O'Brien said on Jan. 12 he didn't have an offer from a rival network.
ABC doesn't plan to pursue O'Brien, a spokesman for Burbank, California-based Walt Disney Co.'s broadcast network said on Jan. 8.
NBC's loss of O'Brien stemmed from the network's 2004 decision to anoint the late-night talk-show host as Leno's successor on "The Tonight Show," with the change set for June 2009. O'Brien passed on an offer of more money from Fox to stay at NBC and host "The Tonight Show," one of the people said.
To keep Leno from defecting to a rival network, NBC offered him "The Jay Leno Show" at 10 p.m. weeknights, replacing scripted programs. The four-month experiment to establish the prime-time talk show led to complaints of shrinking audiences for local stations' news.
Schedule Shuffle
On Jan. 10, the network said Leno would return to 11:35 p.m. and "The Tonight Show" would be pushed back 30 minutes. O'Brien refused, effectively ending his 16 years on late-night TV at NBC.
O'Brien walks away with a $33 million payout and $12 million for his staff, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because the terms are private. His last show on NBC will be tomorrow night, and he's free for new opportunities after Sept. 1, New York-based NBC said today.
News Corp., controlled by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch, dropped 22 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $12.84 today on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Class A shares of the New York-based company rose 51 percent last year.
NBC Universal, the parent company of the NBC broadcast network, is a unit of Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric Co. GE fell 48 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $16.02 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Comcast Corp., the Philadelphia-based cable TV service, is planning to acquire control of NBC Universal through a joint venture with GE.