As The Tonight Show moves from its longtime Burbank home in California to New York City, where it originally debuted, 164 staffers will be laid off, an NBC spokesman confirmed on Friday.
The lay-offs involve primarily production-based jobs and were not a surprise. Last May, NBC announced that Leno would leave The Tonight Show after 22 years (minus a few months when Conan O’Brien hosted) and be replaced by the New York-based Jimmy Fallon. The week leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics was picked to be Leno’s final week on the show.
The lay-offs are expected to be staggered and will take place between February 14 and April 4. Leno’s last episode of The Tonight Show will be next Thursday. Fallon’s first episode from New York City will be on February 17.
Affected staffers have been encouraged to apply for other positions within the company, including Fallon’s East Coast version of the show.
The Tonight Show debuted in New York City in 1954 with Steve Allen as host. Jack Paar and Johnny Carson succeeded him, and it was during Carson’s 30-year run as host that the show moved to Burbank in 1972.
It isn’t the first time the show has seen lay-offs in recent years. Back in 2012, dipping ratings and the changing economics of the TV business led to around 20 staffers getting laid off and Leno getting his estimated $26-million (Dh95.4 million)-a-year salary cut by 10 per cent.
