Conan O’Brien Working Towards Deal With Fox

Though Fox has always been viewed as the most likely destination for Conan O’Brien, there have been and remain some obstacles to overcome before anything is finalized. Today an executive from Fox confirmed that the two sides are working on a deal with a representative of O’Brien stating “we’ll get there”. There is still the possibility that O’Brien will choose to go to cable instead but the reach that Fox has gives it the edge.

Ever since talk of a movie to Fox came up the biggest hurdle has been identified as the individual Fox stations, many of which have obligations to air reruns of shows at 11pm following the news, and those syndications have proven to be profitable. Those previously made deals could force Conan O’Brien to air at 1130pm in some markets.

Not having the uniformity of start time would be damaging to how the show could be promoted. The two sides could end up deciding to wait to launch the show until January, when more stations would be able to air it at 11pm. There is also the possibility of airing the show on FX in those markets until the time comes that it can shift over to Fox.

Fox would be looking to reduce the budget of the show from the $90 million a year at NBC to about $60 million. Interestingly O’Brien is hoping to secure the set that was used for his run at “The Tonight Show”. NBC spent over $50 million building it and now with it collecting dust they have stated they are open to leasing it out.