Moot but interesting: Conan's contract with NBC

Matthew Belloni of THR, Esq. — that's The Holywood Reporter's legal blog — finally got a look at Conan O'Brien's contract language. It did specify that O'Brien would host "The Tonight Show" at 11:35 p.m., and although there's later vagueness to the language, Belloni concludes O'Brien could have made a strong case. Of course, now that O'Brien and NBC have negotiated a settlement, the details don't matter so much except to TV junkies, historians and students of the deal-making (and breaking) game. Belloni also notes that Conan was talking contract as early as 2002, meaning he waited seven years (not the usually reported five) to get the job he lost in seven months.

Belloni:

Given that O'Brien's team got him the big payday, plus the right to look for another job immediately, plus no mitigation or offset damages from any new salary, the settlement suggests NBC was more than a little afraid of how this might play out -- and that Conan's "Tonight" deal wasn't the weak contract NBC wanted us to believe it was.

Graphic with O'Brien and Jeff Zucker: The Hollywood Reporter