please can someone explain to me what is going on between Conan and Leno?

NBC made a big mistake moving Leno to prime time. I think the whole thing is a publicity stunt and it's working. Conan's ratings have never been higher.

NBC is working with Conan on a cash settlement. Conan has a contract for 80 million bucks. The dispute is Conan's contract allows for a start time as late as 12:05 (Eastern) for sports program delays. The other side of the argument is that the start time has been the same since Steve Allen started the show way back in 1954. The length of the show has changed but never the start time. The show started as an hour and a half show. It was shortened to one hour in 1991. Talk is Conan will walk with 40 million. If NBC pays the full 80 million, Conan will not be able to take a new show until the contract ends (I assume 5 years but not sure). Rumor is Fox is interested in Conan. But Fox has a bad track record with late night talk shows. Two failed talk shows in a row and Conan will not come back.

Leno is going back to his old time slot. Conan is gone. It looks like February 12th is his last show. Jay will take over after the Olympics on March 1st.

The cause: Conan wanted the tonight show. Leno's ratings had slipped and Conan's ratings were on the rise. So 5 years ago NBC announced that Conan would take over the Tonight show. The Leno show only came about in the last year. Some stories are that Jay was going to retire and then changed his mind well after Conan was announced as the new host. Others are that Conan had a clause in his contract to get the Tonight show or get a 45 million payout. I assume this was based on ratings incentive that NBC never thought Conan would acheive. I lean towards the ladder.

The problem: The ratings are down on both shows because they split the viewers. How well do you think Leno would have done if Johnny Carson took a show just before Jay’s? Carson was an Icon. I know what you are thinking; they all have similar shows that follow them. But because of the late time a lot of the prime views sign off. The following shows ratings drop dramatically across the board.

I don't know what has changed at NBC. When Conan started they supported him. It took a full 2 years for Conan to get a decent sized following. I guess this says a lot about the different time slots. It may also have something to do with the fact that NBC's ratings are in last place of the main networks. Not just in late night programming, over all. So they can't afford to wait and see if the ratings come up.

Since this controversy started Conan's ratings are up. I wonder what NBC will do if the ratings continue to rise and stay up or even surpass Jay’s tonight show ratings.

Leno's show might be pushed out of primetime because of bad rating.

That would mean pushing Conan and everyone else back, too.

And Conan said he DOES NOT want to be behind Jay AGAIN.

Hope that helps :)