Corona | Coming Attractions

Today NBC Universal's Jeff Gaspin confirmed the rumors that were bubbling to the surface of showbiz reporting last week, that Jay Leno's spell as a prime time talk show host would be coming to an end.

At the Television Critics Association press gathering held today, Gaspin said that The Jay Leno Show would be moving to 11:35 PM at the end of February, when the network's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games was over. While the move of Leno to a later time slot was for sure, more in doubt was the fate of The Tonight Show starring Conan O'Brien. While O'Brien and his team have been in talks with the network, Conan's side hasn't decided on what they would like to do and how they feel about having their show bumped a half-hour to begin at 12:05 AM. For the record, Jimmy Fallon's Late Night would also be pushed back a half-hour, to begin at 1:05 AM.

Network affiliates who saw their ratings drop as a result of Leno's 10 PM berth will be relived as will fans of Law & Order, which will likely move back to its home at 10, but the damage may take years to fix. Already there are estimates circulating that it will wind up costing NBC about $200 million dollars in lost revenue from their Leno experiment, and that's not to speak anything about what might yet happen if Conan O'Brien doesn't like the new deal he's being offered. Conceivably O'Brien can walk away from the peacock network if he wants to, and he might have to if he doesn't want to be looked like second banana to Leno.

Somewhere in New York City David Letterman is probably feeling the blues for Conan.