20-25 'Tonight Show' staffers lose jobs

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Between 20 and 25 staffers recently lost their jobs at "The Tonight Show" in Burbank, Calif., due to budget cuts, NBC insiders told Deadline.com.

Several producers also took pay cuts rather than lose their jobs, while host Jay Leno agreed to be paid less than his $27 million-30 million yearly salary in an effort to save some jobs, the sources told the entertainment news Web site.

"I don't think ad sales are off. I just think the people who bought this company, Comcast, wants to go through everything at NBC and get their money back," an NBC insider told Deadline. "It's hard to go through those kinds of cuts. It's more a network issue than a late-night issue. And I would say that Jay doesn't get credit for digging out of a gigantic hole every single night. He's a very valuable guy to NBC and someday everyone will understand that. He does a great job."