Conan O’Brien would have to prove that he could make money out of a new late night show at Fox, said the network’s executive Rupert Murdoch.
“We’re giving it a lot of thought and a lot of examination”, said Murdoch. The media mogul runs his media empire News Corp., the parent company of Fox. His conglomerate also owns Fox News Channel, 20th Century Fox, newspapers such as the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, and satellite services in Asia and the UK.
Murdoch added that executives Kevin Reill and Peter Rice would have to “show us we can do it and be fairly confident of making a profit”.
The 78-year-old TV executive also mentioned that he has been talking with representatives of O’Brien, although there were no “real negotiations” yet.
Other News Corp. executives like Fox Television Station head Roger Ailes and Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey shared the same view with Murdoch regarding the possibility of signing a deal with O’Brien.
The late night show host decided to quit hosting ‘The Tonight Show’ on NBC instead of moving its timeslot 30 minutes later to make way for Jay Leno’s comeback to the 11:35 pm timeslot.
Although he said that not everyone has the same opinion about moving forward at Fox, Murdoch disclosed that “we would do it in a flash” if having O’Brien in the network could make a profit. “I’m sure we’d have difficult renegotiations”, he added.
