CONAN O'BRIEN TO TAKE OVER 'TONIGHT SHOW' IN '09
Mon Sep 27 2004 13:25:11 ET

From Jeff Zucker, issued to NBC staff via email:

Today, we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of our late night franchise "The Tonight Show."

Today also marks another important milestone in our great late night history. In a few moments, we will be issuing a press release announcing our succession plan for this important television institution.

Jay Leno will continue to be at the helm of "The Tonight Show" for another five years, well into 2009, after which time Conan O'Brien will become the host of "The Tonight Show." Jay will officially make the announcement on his show tonight.

After that, it's back to work as usual for Jay, Conan and their teams, who will continue to provide us laughs for many more years.

I canÕt say enough about this late night team and these two men - especially Jay Leno - who worked tirelessly with us to help us find the appropriate time to make this announcement.

Thanks to both men we have a very bright future in late night!