PASADENA, California -- NBC has made its late-night move, and the
next one could belong to Conan O'Brien.
O'Brien's mindset is a key to unweaving the tangle caused by NBC bumping Jay Leno to his old 11:35 p.m. timeslot, with O'Brien pushed back to 12:05 a.m.
With Fox showing interest in O'Brien and potentially able to offer him an 11 p.m. slot, the question becomes whether O'Brien would want to jump networks or be happy returning to a post-midnight slot on NBC.
An 11 p.m. timeslot would allow O'Brien to get the jump on both Leno and David Letterman, behind whom he has fallen in the ratings.
Fox would likely have to persuade affiliates to give the network control of that hour. And there would also have to be a resolution of some complicated contractual issues with NBC.
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Source: The Associated Press
