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"NBC says it has reached a deal with 'Tonight' host Conan O'Brien for his exit from the show, allowing Jay Leno to return to the late-night program he hosted for 17 years. The deal is worth a reported $44 million."

"Network spokeswoman Allison Gollust confirmed the deal early Thursday but did not offer any other details. Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that O'Brien will get $32 million and that the network agreed to pay his staff $12 million in severance."

It is a shame to see NBC fucking up so royally. I know they are simply a corporation, but they are also more than that. They are an important component of baby boomer memories. It is especially sad to see them screwing up comedy shows, because NBC invented televised comedy. In 1948, they created the first TV comedy star (Milton Berle). Two years later, they created the second (Sid Caesar) and gave Groucho Marx his TV show. In 1954 they gave future comedy legend Steve Allen a little rinky-dink late-night show, a show which is still running after 55 years, long enough for Leno and Conan to be fighting over it today.

Steve Allen would continue his relationship with NBC in prime time after his three-year stint on Tonight.
Later on, the network created a live show called NBC's Saturday Night (now called SNL), which is still running after 34 years. Over the subsequent years the network has hosted some of the biggest and best comedy hits in history: Cosby, Seinfeld, Taxi, Cheers.

And they have not just traded in mass audience material. Their comedy programs have also included edgy, offbeat and avant-garde stuff like Freaks and Geeks, Buffalo Bill, and several different Ernie Kovacs shows - including one on January 19, 1957 which included nary a single word of dialogue. I watched that show. I thought it sucked at the time. But what did I know? I was seven then. The key points are (1) I still remember it; (2) NBC took some chances back in the day.