What's Next for NBC Late-Night Lineup?

Conan O'Brien has made up his mind. He released a statement Tuesday that began, "People of Earth" -- and for executives at NBC, it went downhill from there.

"Early Show" national correspondent Hattie Kauffman reports O'Brien has turned down NBC's offer to move "The Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m. in order to give Jay Leno his old time slot back.

Conan O'Brien Says No Thanks To NBC Move

O'Brien said in the statement it would "seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in broadcast history."

Outside O'Brien's studio Tuesday night, fans voiced their support.

One man said, "Conan appeals to the youth more than Jay."

A woman said, "I think we'll follow Conan wherever he goes."

Kauffman recalled all of the late-night controversy started when NBC moved Leno to primetime. But that was a bust. Leno's ratings were the lowest for the time slot with only 5.8 million viewers, compared with CBS' 10 p.m. show "The Mentalist" with 17.5 million viewers.

Bill Carter, of The New York Times, has written extensively on the late-night wars.

He told CBS News, "They had a plan that blew up in their face. And now, one of the stars that they established over 17 years is saying I'm so unhappy, I have to leave."

With that in mind, Kauffman noted, late-night comedy may once again be Letterman versus Leno.

Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post's media critic, said on "The Early Show" Wednesday that O'Brien is likely to go to Fox or "some other outlet" to market his talents.

"This cockamamie compromise that NBC cooked up was never going to fly. It was inevitable that Conan would walk. He waited five years to take over this prime real estate, 11:30, and now to be evicted by the very guy he replaced. Conan (is) trying to get the high ground in this increasingly nasty mud fight."

"Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith observed that O'Brien's show was already damaged because he didn't have a viable 10 p.m. lead-in from Leno's failing show.

Kurtz said Leno's show did hurt O'Brien's viewership, but added that O'Brien has to take some responsibility for fewer viewers.

Kurtz said, "Television is a brutal business and he did not put up the numbers. Younger views love this guy, but the traditional 'Tonight Show' audience didn't take to his goofy skits, and he lost nearly half the viewers Leno had, which makes you wonder why NBC kicked the number one guy off 'The Tonight Show' in the first place."

As for NBC's culture of succession and grooming candidates for shows, Kurtz said the Leno-to-O'Brien move -- five years in the making -- was "like a presidential transition."

However, as Kurtz pointed out, "NBC achieved the rare trifecta of ticking everyone off. Conan, obviously, very upset and humiliated. He's going to bolt. NBC's affiliate stations are angry because they're late local newscast got tanked. And 'The Leno Show' couldn't put in the numbers. And Jay, who's going back to 11:30, and who I like, (will) probably regain some of his audience, but he's been tarnished by this high-profile flop of a show that was ill-conceived from the beginning."

So does Leno's audience immediate by go back and rejoin him?

Kurtz said "not immediately."

"A lot of people have switched to Dave Letterman or to 'Nightline' on ABC," he explained. "It will take him some time to gain momentum. Letterman looked happy last night. But he he is trouncing Conan and he must be looking at Leno (saying), 'Hi, old friend and rival for so many years, you again? We're back to this?'"

Kurtz said as debacles go in network television, this situation is "slightly behind New Coke."

"It really was a complete, total, self-inflicted wound to take the number one guy off," he said. "You have to feel sorry for Conan. But I will make a prediction here: Lawyers will get involved, and Conan will come away with tens of millions of dollars, so he won't be applying for food stamps any time soon."

However, it's not all about money for O'Brien, Kurtz said.

"I think there's a lot of pride at stake here," he said. "He's a professional performer, a professional comedian, and he'll want a new audience."