All 164 employees of the talk show have reportedly been encouraged to apply for other jobs at the company.
- February 1, 2014
AceShowbiz -
NBCUniversal will lay off the entire "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" staff as Jimmy Fallon will take over the show and move the studio from California to New York City. A company spokesperson says that it notified the California Employment Development Department last December that it would eliminate the positions.
"We have encouraged those 164 employees to take a look at jobs throughout the company and apply for them," the spokesperson tells The Wrap. They may apply for available positions in New York City at "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon".
Layoffs will be carried out beginning February 14 and be staggered through April 4. Many of the staff members have been with Jay Leno since he debuted on the "Tonight Show" in 1992, replacing Johnny Carson. In 2012, Leno took a pay cut to preserve jobs when the show underwent a major budget restructuring.
Leno's last "Tonight Show" will be on February 6 with Billy Crystal, his first-ever guest on "Tonight Show", stopping by the show for one last time. Fallon will make his debut as the "Tonight Show" host on February 17.
NBC has just released a new promo for "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", with footage featuring the previous hosts and some funny sketches from "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon".
