Conan O’Brien tells NBC to take a hike

LOS ANGELES — Conan O’Brien is not going to take one for the team. The host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying he would not move his show from 11:35 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. EST to make room for Jay Leno’s return to late night.

Since news broke last week that NBC wanted to move Jay Leno out of prime time and put him back in late night, speculation has
centered on whether O’Brien would be willing to move his show or walk.

In a statement, O’Brien said he was disappointed but “after only seven months with my ‘Tonight Show’ in its infancy, NBC
has decided to react to their horrible difficulties in primetime in
making a change in their long established late-night schedule. … So
it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting
this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me
to consider losing it.”

The decision will likely allow NBC to return the “Tonight Show” to Jay Leno and have it run for a full hour.

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