William J. Holstein

Conan O’Brien--Where’s the Outrage?
Jan 21 -- We discover that NBC is paying $32.5 million to late night host Conan O'Brien to go away. Including some of his funny boys, NBC is paying out $40 million.

I'm surprised we are not hearing howls of outrage about how much money that is. If it were a Chief Executive Officer, who quit in a huff because a board of directors realigned his responsibilities, the newspapers and airwaves would be filled with expressions of indignation. There would be a feeling that somehow the CEO is walking away with "our money."

In this case, where does the $40 million come from? I don't think NBC, a division of General Electric, is going to tell its parent that it made $40 million less dollars. Please understand, fellas. Our profits (or losses) just swung $40 million in the wrong direction. Won't happen.

Instead, I suspect that NBC will put the squeeze on its other media assets to help pay to get rid of Conan. That means the budgets for NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC and other "assets" will almost certainly come under new pressure. That will result in a deterioration of the quality of something we all depend on--a vibrant media. In many respects, the media should be considered something that all Americans own a part of. It is supposed to be an essential part of our democracy. So by degrading its media assets so that it can pay Conan off, NBC is depriving Americans of a public good. We all are going to pay a price because Conan and friends walked away with $40 million.

If Americans understood how our society and our economy are harmed by continued erosion of media quality, you can bet that the NBC switchboards would be lighting up. Unfortunately, Americans don't