Oprah Tops List of TV's Biggest Earners—Again

The good doctor asks about late night wars and gets an earful

(NEWSER) - Leave it to Dr. Phil to get David Letterman to really open up about Jay Leno. The TV doc asked the Late Show host about the latest round of late night wars, and Letterman took it all the way back to 1975, when he and Leno first met. “He’s so engaging, so compelling, you can’t not love him,” Letterman said. “But then there’s also this other side of him, and I think he would own up to it, he’s just a complete boob. He can’t help himself.” More»

Late-night rivals spice up Super Bowl ad competition

(NEWSER) - This year's most talked-about Super Bowl commercial was a Late Night promo featuring David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, and an unexpected third party—Jay Leno. Oprah and Letterman appeared in a similar spot when her Chicago Bears lost to his Indianapolis Colts 3 years ago, before Leno became America's Villain. "Now this is damage control for Leno," writes Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly . More»

Launch a Fox rival? Return to SNL ? Reality TV?

(NEWSER) - NBC's shabby treatment of Conan O'Brien has been a recurring theme of the Jay Leno-centric late-night shuffle, but "he-who-rocks-the-dopest-pompadour-on-TV" has more options than you might think. MTV ponders his options.

• Defect to Fox: The network is apparently interested, and it would be a great way to tick off NBC. But Fox has a terrible track record with late-night talk shows.
• Saturday Night Live: O'Brien's writing tenure at SNL coincided with a memorably strong run for the show, but Tonight Show host to "Cheeto-dusted anonymity" is a major step down.

The 20 biggest personalities on TV have salaries to match

(NEWSER) - On the boob tube, prime-time stars aren't the ones who are really cashing in. Think daytime talk-show titans, a syndicated sitcom legend, and a reality humiliation expert. Forbes lists the top 20 earners:

1. Oprah Winfrey, $260 million
2. Jerry Seinfeld, $60 million
3. Simon Cowell, $45 million