America's late-night TV hosts appear set for a new shake-up, with the veteran Tonight Show presenter Jay Leno said to be hanging up his microphone after falling out with his NBC bosses.
In the latest reshuffle in the prized late-night slots, the 62-year-old Leno is expected to hand over the show next year to Jimmy Fallon, 38, who could move the show from Los Angeles to New York.
If confirmed, the swap would be the second time Leno has left the Tonight Show in four years, after his botched 2009 replacement by Conan O'Brien triggered a ratings slump, leading to his return within months.
The show’s move to New York could be good news for another late-night host – Jimmy Kimmel, leaving the 45-year-old alone on the west coast to book Los Angeles-based stars for his show.
Only David Letterman – who at 65 recently overtook Tonight Show’s Johnny Carson as the longest-running late-night talk show host – will remain unfazed by the looming changes on his CBS show.
Leno’s relations with NBC have been strained of late after he made a series of gags in his opening monologues about his bosses and the network’s poor ratings. He triggered an angry email response from the NBC executive Robert Greenblatt, responsible for the network’s prime-time scheduling – but Leno has continued to crack the jokes.
"You know the whole legend of St Patrick, right?" he said, after Ireland's St Patrick's Day last weekend. "St Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland – and then they came to the United States and became NBC executives." – AFP
