FOX and Conan O’Brien- Possible Deal?

Apparently Fox Broadcasting loves Conan O’Brien as much as the rest of us.

According to the LA Times, a possible deal is in the works to get the famous redhead back onto our television screens.  Key executives at Fox, including Rupert Murdoch, are in agreement to finalize a deal in the next few weeks so they can announce a fall line-up come May 17th.  There are still several significant issues and the private talks still have the chance to fall apart.  The CoCo team remains optimistic, but cautious.  “We’ll get there,” said one of O’Brien’s camp Tuesday.

Fox is still trying to figure out how much it will cost to make a late-night talk show that would turn a profit for them.  Most stations play re-runs of popular shows at the time a late-night show would air and Fox needs to determine whether it would bring in more money to keep things the way they are.

Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly and Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice have been the pair spear heading the campaign to bring O’Brien to the network, but their bosses want them to demonstrate that it’s cost effective.  Fox does not want to spend the amount that NBC did for The Tonight Show (NBC spent close to $90 million and Fox wants to spend less than $60 million) and as a result, O’Brien’s camp is trying to determine if they can produce a quality show on a smaller budget or if they should go to cable networks.  There still hasn’t been a decision about whether O’Brien’s show, if it goes through, would air in the fall or start in January.

Whatever the outcome, Conan O’Brien will most likely have a flock of followers watching his show.  Whether he’ll be able to beat out the other big names in late night is another story.  In the meantime, O’Brien will be heading around to various cities with his ‘Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television’ tour.