TCA 2010: Landgraf Keen On Conan

FX chief says he'd love to have a latenight show; would jump at chance to get in business with 'Tonight Show' host "in a heartbeat"

By Melissa Grego -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/17/2010 1:20:40 PM

If Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien, who is reportedly in the process of negotiating his exit from NBC, becomes available to basic cable, FX Networks President-G.M. John Landgraf said he would jump at the chance to get O'Brien on his schedule "in a heartbeat."

Landgraf, speaking Jan. 17 during an executive session at the TCA winter press tour,  said he would "love to have a Daily Show" on its schedule "if it's as good as Conan or The Daily Show or [Stephen] Colbert."

He called the ability to host and sustain a daily show like O'Brien does "very, very rare."

He noted that Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice was in the back of the room, and now oversees both the Fox broadcast network and FX, per the new exec structure at News Corp.
"I think (Peter Rice) gets to decide whether Conan gets to go to the big brother or the little brother," Landgraf said, acknowledging that the economics of mounting a big latenight show are more viable on a broadcast network right now. He said he doubts FX will get a shot at Conan "but we'll see how it plays out."

Fox executives have indicated they would be interested in courting O'Brien since he rejected the network's plan to move Tonight back a half-hour to 12:05. The host might prove a tricky fit with Fox, based on the numbers that have been crunched on the station level.