True 'dat.
But that’s kind of my point. If he refuses to host he show, isn’t he in breech? I guess maybe that’s the whole legal issue, is what does the contract actually say.
There used to be a Tomorrow show that came on after The Tonight Show.
He agreed to host The Tonight Show. He has a fair argument that if you put it on at 12:05, it’s no longer “The Tonight Show,” either literally or as intended by the parties. So accepting that argument, if they move the show and he refuses to host, he would not be in breach.
(I say all of that without having seen the contract of course. It’s possible they could have spelled out all of the rights and obligations of the parties in this specific scenario, but I doubt it.)
Just to answer the OP in the thread itself, the link says $32.5 million. If he takes another job, he has to pay NBC back any amount up to $32.5 million. So, at minimum, he will get $32.5 million next year.
I’m gonna have to agree with this.
That, and can you imagine actually forcing someone to host a show against his will? Imagine how pissy he could get, night after night, and the damage he could do the network.
Oh, sure, we’d all tune in for the first few nights of The Tonight Show Hostage Situation, but in the long term, I don’t think it would play in Peoria.
I watched Jeff Zucker (CEO of NBC) on Charlie Rose last night and aside from learning that Zucker is a smug, pompous jackass I also heard Zucker say (in one of the few questions he would directly answer) that Conan’s contract did NOT specifically mention a certain time slot.
Conan should be glad to move on and no longer have to work for such a clueless ego-freak as Jeff Zucker…
I think Conan has the better argument, and I suspect NBC’s lawyers have told them as much.
The big value of the 11:35 time slot is that it’s the one immediately following the news. Before the internet came along, Americans had a habit of catching up on the events of the day by watching the late news, then Johnny Carson would come on with “The Tonight Show” and entertain them for a bit before they went to bed. It was pretty much a national ritual for many, many people. For those of you not old enough to remember those days - The Tonight Show was the original ‘water cooler’ show. When you went into work in the morning, it was common to hear, “Did you see Johnny last night? Man, that monologue was hilarious”. It was a shared cultural experience.
Johnny Carson’s farewell show drew 41 million viewers. When Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki on the Tonight Show, 58 million people watched (at a time when the U.S. population was less than 200 million people) That’s how big The Tonight Show was. In comparison, Leno and Letterman average around 3-5 million viewers.
That’s the legacy of the Tonight Show. Conan worships the institution, like a lot of other comics who aspired to be talk show hosts. His point is that “The Tonight Show” at 12:05, with another show sandwiched between it and the news, is no longer the same show. It would probably lose half its audience (the shows that come on in the second hour of late-night talk typically retain less than half the audience of the first hour). A Tonight Show which is watched by 1.5-2 million people is no longer relevant in any sort of way. The ‘late night wars’ would again be between Leno and Letterman, with Conan a distant third.
Also, pushing the Tonight Show back would probably kill “Late Night”, and that’s a show that Conan also reveres - its legacy goes back 30 years to David Letterman. In short, Conan felt that moving The Tonight Show back would essentially destroy both of those shows and turn them into something very different. He might be hosting a show of the same name, but it wouldn’t be the same show or have nearly the same impact.
You can’t force someone to work a job they don’t want to work no matter how much you pay them or whatever contract they signed. That’s just illegal and laws take precedence over any contract (in most cases. )
Ratings for all NBC , CBS. etc. shows are down now compared to the old Tonight show with Carson because there are so many more channels to choose from.
No, but you can withhold their compensation and/or sue them for damages if they are in breach of contract.
The OP isn’t talking about forcing anyone to work. The OP is asking why NBC would have to pay Conan if he stops working.
TWDuke brought up the point about forcing someone to work against their will, not the OP.
Well Conan apparently had no time slot guarantee. He was offered the “Tonight Show.” But by pushing it back to 12:05am I reckon his lawyers would argue the “TONIGHT Show”
means TONIGHT and not tomorrow.
In Hollywood contracts are made to be broken. Like remember way back when “Friends” was considered to be a clone of “Seinfeld.” Then in the first year the numbers soared and the players demanded more money. NBC gave it to them. Why? Because that’s the nature of the business.
Unhappy people don’t give good performances.
So if Conan quits or gets fired, both sides will sue. The “settlement” is just a way of avoiding lawsuits.
Most lawsuits are settled long before they get to courts. It’s like those lawyers you see on TV for injury claims. We don’t pay till you win. Well you don’t go court (well almost never). In the first place, the lawyers will only take your case IF they feel they can win. And they are pretty darn good at picking out cases they CAN win.
Since they know they are going to win, they offer a settlement and everyone’s happy. From the claim it sounds like the injury lawyers win your court case. No they usually win you a settlement.
Employment contracts are a bit odd 'cause depending on how they are written, it can make all the difference.
“No Work” clauses and such may or may not be enforcable depending on how they are written. In general courts have ruled if a “no compete” clause is so restrictive to prevent you from doing your job they won’t uphold it.
NBC may have right of first renewel which can cause problems. For instance in Chicago we had a TV anchor Mark Suppelsa. He was unhappy with WFLD (Fox owned station) he worked at here. So when his contract expired he didnt renew it. But then for a period (I think it was six months) his contract gave FOX right to renew. That meant that if he went to any other station to be an anchorman, FOX had the right to match that offer and force him back into a contract. So Suppelsa simply sat around for six months and the day after the waiting period was over, he signed with WGN (the CW).
Oh, for cripes’ sake. First, TWDuke brought it up in a joking manner, as something that would never happen. Second, nobody thinks you can legally force someone to work, as in threatening them with bodily harm or locking them in the building (well, unless you’re talking about military personal, perhaps). You absolutely can compel someone to work by threatening them with major financial losses if they don’t. That can include withholding compensation or suing for damages as mentioned above, but it can also take the form of enforcing a do-not-compete clause.
(bolding mine)
Actually WalMart got into a lot of trouble for doing that very thing (locking people in the building.)
Well, it does say here that “except as provided in this chapter, every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind is to that extent void” in California. Could NBC say that prohibiting from hosting a late-night talk show on a broadcast network is specific enough that it does not restrain him from practicing his trade?
Right. So presumably the people who thought that was OK have been enlightened on that issue.