Director's Alert: Jay Leno to Stay at NBC; Launch new 10 p.m. show in Fall 2009

Update: 12/9/08 - It's Now Official!

NEW YORK -- Jay Leno is staying at NBC, and he's moving to prime time.

The network announced on the "Today" show Tuesday that Leno will host a show on weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern, after he leaves the "Tonight" show. The network had announced earlier that Conan O'Brien would move to the "Tonight" show and succeed Leno.

The deal not only prevents Leno from moving to another network and competing with O'Brien, it also has the potential to be a big cost savings for NBC.

Dramas at 10 p.m. Eastern used to be a mainstay of network schedules, but they have been fading -- particularly on NBC. One reason is digital video recorders; more people are watching shows they taped earlier than the live 10 p.m. shows.

The deal was first reported Tuesday in The New York Times.

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Our Original Posting from 12/8/08

Things at NBC are moving fast and we have learned another piece of the puzzle which seems to be coming together quickly.

The Director's Cut Blog has learned that Jay Leno will stay with NBC and launch a new 10 p.m. broadcast in the Fall of 2009.

TV Week.com reports this evening that Jay has apparently signed a multi-year deal to do a Monday through Friday talk/variety show at 10 p.m. weeknights, leaving the network with 5 less additional hours to program each week.

The announcement is expected on Tuesday, with NBC declining comment.

This new program would keep Jay at the network, give him a substantial pay increase and keep Conan O'Brien happy as the new host of "The Tonight Show" starting this summer.

Jay had been expected to jump to ABC or FOX.

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