Rupert Murdoch: Conan Could Head to Fox ...

But O'Brien still keeping his options open

(NEWSER) - After stalling for two weeks, Conan O’Brien’s talks with Fox have resumed, and certain details make it look as if a deal is imminent. Updates, from the Hollywood Reporter :

• Conveniently enough, O’Brien’s comedy tour has a performance scheduled every day between May 13 and 20—except May 17, which just so happens to be the date of Fox’s upfront presentation.
• O’Brien was invited to participate in Fox’s American Idol special “Idol Gives Back” on April 21, but NBC shot that idea down since O’Brien’s settlement does not allow for any TV appearances until May 1.

Fox deal may upstage Jay Leno's Tonight Show return

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno may have the Tonight Show but Conan O'Brien has captured the Twitter crown. O'Brien set up his now authenticated Twitter account yesterday and nabbed 200,000 followers within hours, dwarfing Leno's following of around 30,000, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to a commercial," Conan wrote in his first tweet. "Somebody help me." 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.

Network starts replacing Jay Leno Show as Conan weighs options

(NEWSER) - As NBC hustles to fill Jay Leno’s 10pm time slot with a new series, rumors are flying that Conan O’Brien is ready to ditch the peacock for another network. “This level of shittiness was not expected,” a source tells the New York Post . “He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA. And five months later, they repay him like this? Conan would be happier somewhere else.” Insiders tell the Wall Street Journal —Fox’s sister company under News Corp.—O’Brien has already had early talks with Fox. More»

Looks like late-night host is no major windfall for TBS

(NEWSER) - George Lopez's late-night talk show got booted to midnight to make room for Conan O'Brien. Sacrifices have to be made in the quest for fortune, right? Eh, maybe. Turns out Conan is barely more popular than Lopez Tonight was. The redhead's TBS show officially turned one this week, and the first-year stats are nothing to write home about. Yahoo reports that he averaged 952,000 viewers a night, to Lopez's 911,000, per Nielsen. That's a serious drop from Conan's 4 million-viewer debut. More»