Fans of Conan O’Brien, soon to leave NBC’s “Tonight Show” under less than happy circumstances, have been voting on what job offer he should take. One of the leaders is a radio gig – in Fargo, ND.
The Fargo Forum newspaper has been following the voting closely. As of Thursday morning, the offer from WDAY-FM “Y-94” of an on-air job as morning show sidekick was leading, with 42%. Second was an offer from a porno film maker, at 36%.
O’Brien had already gotten mileage out of the porn offer, suggesting on the Tonight Show that the fine print called for Jay Leno to step in right before the climax. In any case, that offer would not be a career enhancing move.
There’s no word on how much Y-94 is offering O’Brien. Our guess is that the combined salaries of the entire morning crew, plus the GM and sales staff, wouldn’t stack up to his previous paycheck. But then, he has that $33 million severance deal from NBC to fall back on for a while.
[Update: The station website says the offer is for minimum wage.]
RBR-TVBR observation: We actually would not be surprised to see Conan show up in North Dakota at least for a few publicity-filled days. His exit contract from NBC probably does not prohibit any radio work over the next few months, before he is again free to appear on network TV. Sitting behind the mic at WDAY would be great PR and even fun for the guy.
