NBC's Conan fiasco: By the numbers

A startling look at the financial (and human) cost of NBC's decision to force out Conan O'Brien

Best Opinion:  NY Mag, LA Times, Business Insider...

After weeks of feuding, the Leno-Conan-NBC standoff has finally come to a close. Last night, Conan O'Brien and NBC finalized a $45 million exit deal that will give both the ousted host and his staff a generous severence. But that's just a fraction of the fortune NBC has blown on its doomed late-night shuffle. Here, a by-the-numbers breakdown of the renowned disaster:

11:35: Current time slot of The Tonight Show, which the program has occupied since Sept. 2, 1991.

12:05: New time slot NBC proposed for Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show so that it could give Jay Leno a half-hour show beginning at 11:35 p.m. In a letter to "People of Earth," Conan denounced this proposal, saying it would be the "destruction" of The Tonight Show.

7: Number of months Conan hosted The Tonight Show

8: Number of months Conan must stay off the air before launching a new program on another network, according to his severence agreement

60-70: Number of Conan staffers who followed O'Brien from New York to Los Angeles when he moved west to take over The Tonight Show

40-50: Number of Conan staffers whose moving expenses were covered by NBC

200: Size of Conan O'Brien's full staff

$50 million: Combined annual salaries of Conan's Tonight Show production staff, which averages out to $250,000 per person

$7.5 million: Total severance payment secured for Conan's 200- member staff, which averages out to $37,500 per person

$4.5 million: Severance payment secured for Tonight Show executive producer Jeff Ross

$12 million—$15 million: O'Brien's estimated annual salary

$33 million: Size of Conan O'Brien's own severance package

2.53 million: Average nightly audience for Conan's Tonight Show in October 2009 (the most recent numbers available)

4.75 million: Average nightly audience for Jay Leno's Tonight Show,  before Conan took over as host

$25 million: Amount NBC parent company General Electric spent to construct a new studio for Conan's Tonight Show

$200 million: Annual advertising revenue The Tonight Show generates for NBC

$15 million—$20 million: Estimated annual revenue generated by advertising sales if Conan decides to move his show online

330,000: Number of members of the Conan Facebook fan group "I'm With Coco"

Sources: MSNBC, NY Times, LA Times, New Tee Vee, Business Insider, HuffPo, AOL Inside TV

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SEE MORE OF THE WEEK'S CONAN-LENO COVERAGE:
• Conan's next move: 5 theories
• Leno vs. Conan: The CGI "reinactment"
• Top 7 'Jay Leno and NBC' takedown videos
• Conan's bombshell statement
• Leno vs Conan