Reply #75: Leno didn't walk away from the Tonight Show [View All]

[fishwax]

six years ago NBC guaranteed Conan the Tonight Show after five years. But when the five years were up he was, by a substantial margin, the highest-rated late night host, so they gave him the prime time show to keep him from going to another network.

Meanwhile, the Tonight Show's ratings have declined considerably since Conan took over, and Leno's prime time show's ratings have been in decline since about the thirty minute mark of the first show.

On edit: I see others have already made this point. I should read before posting :)