Conan O'Brien is moving to TBS

[Frisky Dingo]

Conan O'Brien is moving to TBS

Former 'Tonight Show' host finds a new home
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

In a surprise announcement, TBS revealed this morning that the former "Tonight Show" host would join the cabler in the 11 p.m. time slot this November.

"Lopez Tonight," which currently airs there, will shift to midnight. Like "Lopez," the as-yet untitled O'Brien show will air four days a week, Mondays through Thursdays.

"In three months I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said. "My plan is working perfectly."

News was timed to the kick off of O'Brien's "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour, which starts Monday night in Eugene, Ore.

O'Brien had been widely expected to seal a deal with Fox -- and execs at the broadcast network remained optimistic last week that a deal could eventually be hammered out.

But Fox was running into serious financial roadblocks in clearing a late night yakker.

It's was a given that divisions such as the Fox TV Stations, Twentieth Television and 20th Century Fox TV would all take at least a short-term financial hit should an O'Brien latenighter become a reality for Fox.

And given the off-net sitcom contracts that Fox's O&Os -- and most of its affiliates -- have in place, it was looking more likely that an O'Brien show would air at 11:30 p.m., and even midnight in some markets, instead of 11 p.m. after Fox affils' 10 p.m. newscasts.

Considering that O'Brien exited NBC after that network downgraded his timeslot, O'Brien likely didn't want to have to wait years to secure full in-pattern clearances on Fox across the country.

TBS, on the other hand, allows O'Brien to be seen virtually nationwide, in-pattern, immediately.

According to TBS, talks began in earnest just last week -- and after "Lopez Tonight" star George Lopez personally gave O'Brien a call.

"I can't think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in," Lopez said. "It's the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy."

Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin called O'Brien "the comedic voice for a generation."

"TBS already has a huge audience of young comedy lovers, and Conan's show will give these fans even more reasons to watch our network," Koonin said.

Lopez's talk show already posts the youngest median age among all latenight talkers. Koonin said he saw an opportunity to expand on that young audience.

For decades, late-night TV has been dominated by broadcast television," Koonin said. "Now, with a young audience and a growing late-night lineup, TBS is set to be the choice of comedy fans for years to come."

Under his exit package, O'Brien is able to host a new late night show starting in September.

He's also able to start conducting TV interviews in May (with some restrictions on what he can say about NBC and the January late night kerfuffle). Given Monday's announcement, it will probably be no surprise if O'Brien gives his first sit-down chat to Lopez.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1

[Frisky Dingo]

My first thought after reading that, "Wait, people actually watch George Lopez's show?"

But seriously, I'm glad Conan's found a new home. Looking forward to having him back on the air again.

[GRANT!]

Might not be the worst thing. He doesn't have to worry too much about getting Network numbers to compete with Jay and Dave, Fox doesn't have to ask their affiliates to move their syndicated rerun series (like Simpsons and Seinfeld which provide local stations with a lot in ad revenue and basic cable should allow him more freedom to do his more weirder material (which was lacking in the earlier days of his Tonight Show stint).

Hopefully he'll be back on Hulu.com because that's where I watch most of my TV.

[insidemyhead]

This is mixed news for those of us without cable, but I'm hopeful that I'll find a way to get my Conan fix.

[The Zapper]

I'm happy Conan is coming back. I'll be watching.

[mattbib]

Yeah, I love Conan's show but I rarely ever watched it. For some reason I think I might be more inclined to watch it when it's on TBS.

[thwhtGuardian]

This is an interesting move to say the least, I hope it works out for him.

[kalorama]

Never seen Lopez's show (and probably never will) but big ups to him for giving the public okay to O'Brien poaching his timeslot (even if he was only faking it).

[Personamanx]

Crud. We stopped getting TBS up in Newfoundland a few Years ago.....

[Nate Grey]

I like George Lopez, but usually I just watch the opening monologue like I do with most Late Night Shows. Conan's was the only one I'd sometimes watch all the way through. This is an awesome move.

[thwhtGuardian]

Never seen Lopez's show (and probably never will) but big ups to him for giving the public okay to O'Brien poaching his timeslot (even if he was only faking it).

I don't think he was faking it, I mean from a ratings stand point this could really help him. If TBS is right and a lot of people who might have never watched his show might tune in for Conan creating a possible strong lead in for his show as many might possibly stay to watch his show simply because they don't feel like changing the channel.

[Nate Grey]

I don't think he was faking it, I mean from a ratings stand point this could really help him. If TBS is right and a lot of people tune in for Conan then Lopez would have a strong lead in, people who tuned in for Conan might then decide to watch his show.

Not only that, isn't Lopez taking a hit from Nick at Nite airing reruns of his old show during that time? Talk about irony. I'm sure he'd love to get out of that bizarre dichotomy.

[Surtur]

I don't think anyone is going to be too surprised over this, we all knew Conan was too talented not to wind up somewhere.

Well, good for him, maybe now we can start to move past this whole mess with NBC.

[thwhtGuardian]

Not only that, isn't Lopez taking a hit from Nick at Nite airing reruns of his old show during that time? Talk about irony. I'm sure he'd love to get out of that bizarre dichotomy.

That's just too funny for words, poor guy I'd want to move too.

[Jared]

Even with Lopez's OK, the irony is astounding.

I'm surprised Fox wasn't able to get him. But TBS does make sense, they've been branding themselves as a comedy channel for a few years.