Report: NBC to pay Conan $30 million Jan. 15, 2010, 7:27 PM EST

NBC has its way out of the Conan Crisis.

The network has agreed to pay O'Brien $30 million to vacate the 11:35 p.m. "Tonight Show," individuals involved in the negotiations have told TheWrap. The deal, which still has to be formally signed, could be announced as early as Friday. Individuals in O'Brien's camp declined to comment.

As TheWrap previously reported, Team Conan was insisting that NBC has breached O'Brien's contract because, it argued, the deal had a timeslot guarantee. NBC's response: No, there is no such guarantee of a specific timeslot for "Tonight." So as long as we keep something called "The Tonight Show" on the air, there is no breach. If NBC had been in breach, it would have owed Conan around $40 million (and as much as $50 million, according to some reports, as a penalty. People close to NBC insisted the network would not yield on this point-- it wouldn't admit it had breached O'Brien's deal.

Under this proposal, the sooner O'Brien starts a new gig -- if he starts one -- the less money it would have to pay. So if Conan managed to land a new job at Fox within a year, the Peacock might shell out less than the full $30 million.