Conan O’Brien Close to a $40 Million Exit Deal with NBC

It looks like the weeks-long controversy between NBC and “The Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien, may just be coming to its end. According to a report at money.cnn.com, O’Brien is close to signing a $40 million deal with the network, to walk away from the late-night show.

The potential deal between them, would bar O’Brien from “bad-mouthing” his former bosses at NBC in any way, but would allow him to take another television job elsewhere within one year. Conan’s possible departure comes after the network tried to change the show time.

Within the scheduling changes, “The Tonight Show” was to be pushed until just after midnight. But O’Brien apparently rejected the change. In a letter addressed to “People of Earth,” Conan said that moving the show would seriously damage what he called the greatest franchise.

Reports say that under the potential NBC deal, Jay Leno, who had his talk show “The Jay Leno Show” canceled earlier this month, would actually be reinstated as the host of “The Tonight Show,” a position he originally held for seventeen years.