I started wondering about this - how much do people like Conan make a year? They’re not movie stars, but they’re national celebrities and are on TV every night.
Well Leno just signed a contract this week for (if I remember correctly) $27 million dollars/year. Conan doesn’t make that much, but he probably makes a lot.
He started out at like $1 million a year, then in a show of “confidence” NBC gave him $2 million a few years in. In 2002 he signed a contract for more than $8 million a year
I’m not sure if his salary has gone up since then, but it was a 4-year contract so I suspect not…
There’s an article on Conan at the NY Times today: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/arts/television/04CART.html?8hpib (free registration req’d). It says he makes a third of what Leno makes, so ~$8 million sounds about right. Anybody know what Kilborn or Kimmel makes?
Having seen Kimmel’s show on a few occasions, I would have to imagine he is paying them to be allowed to broadcast.
Preach it, brother!
Letterman’s making around 30 million a year with CBS.
If Leno gets higher ratings than Letterman (assuming the stats I read are still true), why does Leno earn less?
better contract negotiators
Makes sense, but why couldn’t Leno just say “I’m outta here unless I’m paid 5 million more than Letterman” or whatever. He’d have NBC by the balls. I doubt they’d take a chance of losing one of their most profitable programs.
There could be lots of reasons. One may be that NBC has a ready replacement for Leno - Conan O’Brien. Frankly, I think Conan is better than Dave and Jay, and he’d absolutely kick ass at 12:30.
Another may be length of contract.
Another may be that Dave is more valuable to the network than Jay, even if his show brings in lower ratings. For one, Dave’s ratings are lower than Jay’s in part because CBS has a much weaker lead-in to his show than does NBC.
And it also may be because Dave negotiated his contract earlier than Jay, when both of them were worth more. Are ratings for network late night in general still losing ground to cable?
Finally, perhaps CBS’s management isn’t as tough as NBC’s. Same reason why the New York Rangers paid huge dollars to players that other teams wouldn’t. Deep pockets, lack of discipline in management, whatever.
I assume you mean 11:30 (unless he’s on at a different time where you are). I agree he would be awesome earlier, but I’m worried he’d have to tone down the show. If that’s the case, it would destroy Conan’s entire routine.
Leno starts at 11:35 pm EST.
I think Conan makes a very reasonable amount for what he does!
On the other hand, I believe that Leno and Letterman, are horribly Horribly overpaid. 
Yeah, Leno’s on at 12:30 here. We Canadians are night owls.
I think on Inside the Actors Studio, Leno said he had never even touched any of the salary he’d gotten from the tv show, and that he got what he has by doing stand-up on the road 150 times a year. Any truth to that? With all those cars it seems a little false.
As for Letterman making more, part of it may be due to the fact that (last I read, which was admittedly years ago) his ratings are higher in the more profitable demographics, while their grandparents are watching Centrum Silver ads on Leno.
Is that backwards?
Yeah, it’s backwards. Leno does better among the more desirable demographics.
A Tough Year For David Letterman - NEW YORK, June 30, 2003
And since Leno charges a minimum of $100,000 for each of his 150+ gigs a year, that’s well over $15 million dollars of play money. His one real extravagance is the cars, and he can support that on a few mil a year. Everything else is gravy. He won’t turn into MC Hammer when the show ends, that’s for sure.
And never one is overpaid. They bring in as much as $100,000,000 in ad revenue for their networks. Seems like a fair cut to me.
My guess is he could say that, and get what he wanted, but at the same time, it might ruin his relationship with his bosses–which could make his workplace less than jolly.
Looking at it another way, though, I think you overstate Leno’s importance. If he left, the Tonight Show would go on with a different host, just as it has in the past. If Letterman left, CBS suddenly has no 11:30 show. There would not be Late Show w/o Letterman. It’s much more tied into his personality than the Tonight Show is into Leno’s.