Report: NBC to pay O'Brien $30 million

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- NBC has agreed to pay U.S. talk show host Conan O'Brien $30 million to leave the 11:35 p.m. "Tonight Show," sources told TheWrap.com.

The deal was still being finalized, the Web site reported. O'Brien's representatives would not comment on the report.

NBC's reported agreement came after a dispute over whether O'Brien's contract guaranteed "The Tonight Show" must air at 11:35 p.m., as he had argued. NBC retorted the show had no guaranteed time slot for Conan.

If NBC had breached the contact, it would have had to pay O'Brien a penalty of at least $40 million, TheWrap said.

NBC ousted "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno at the end of last season and gave the position to O'Brien to keep O'Brien from moving to another network. NBC then gave Leno his own nightly, hourlong 10 p.m. chat series, "The Jay Leno Show."

When the prime time series failed to be a strong lead-in for local news broadcasts, however, NBC announced it would push Leno's show back to 11:35 p.m., shorten it to 30 minutes and air "Tonight" at 12:05 a.m., followed by "Late Show with Jimmy Fallon" at 1:05 a.m. However, O'Brien said Tuesday he will not remain on "Tonight" if it is moved to 12:05 a.m.

"Conan does not currently plan on doing any more new shows after next week," an insider told People.com Thursday.

TMZ cited unnamed sources as saying Leno made a deal with NBC Thursday to take over "The Tonight Show" as host in the 11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. time slot. TMZ gave no date for the switch.