Sources close to former ‘Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno tell me he is furious with the way NBC has treated him and Conan O’Brien and is considering walking away from the entire mess with his head held high – Popeater reports. “Now that Conan has made it clear he is leaving the troubled network, Jay is considering doing the same. They have put Jay in a terrible position.

It looks like he is the reason that Conan is now without a job. Jay is a great guy and it’s not fair that due to NBC’s stupidity he looks like the bad guy,” a TV insider tells me.

“Plus, what happens when Jay does return to the 11:35 slot if his audience doesn’t immediately follow? How can he possibly trust the same network that canceled Conan after only seven months?”

Read the full story on Popeater.

After weeks of rumors, NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed Sunday that Jay Leno’s nightly prime-time show will end on Feb. 12. – Popeater reports. Although NBC wants Leno to do an 11:35 p.m. show each night, it is not a done deal yet, Gaspin said.

The news comes just days after Leno used his talk-show pulpit to skewer NBC on the day that various media reports emerged that his days in the 10 p.m. time slot may be done. Going straight for the throat, Leno taunted his network by saying “I hear Fox is beautiful this time of year” and joking that the trust between him and the Peacock network is gone.

Gaspin said despite lower ratings for NBC at 10 p.m. compared with last year, the network was making money off the show.

But affiliates were upset that the show was leading fewer viewers into their late news programs, costing them significant advertising revenue. Some affiliates told NBC in December they would go public soon about their complaints if a change wasn’t made, or even take Leno’s show off the air.

“The drumbeat started getting louder,” Gaspin said.

Read the full story on Popeater.

VIDEO

PICTURES