Written by David Morgan

 

Jeff Zucker, the main man at NBC Universal, has apparently taken Jon Stewart and his agent out to dinner to talk about their futures. Broadcastingcable.com describes the talks as "exploratory." Apparently Jon Stewart's contract with The Daily Show is up in 2008, which will leave him free to go to any show or network he pleases, or whoever is willing to pay him the most. 

 

BC.com also reports that Jon Stewart has been "known to covet" David Letterman's seat on CBS, but that he may end up selected to replace either Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien, come 2009. O'Brien, of course, has already been promised The Tonight Show reigns in 2009, but it has been suggested that NBC may choose to keep Leno on and simply pay O'Brien off for $40 million, which very well may cause the departure of the latter. In either case, the 12:35 spot will need to be filled by someone, and Zucker may want to fill that slot with Stewart.

 

Obviously this would seem to be a great thing for Stewart's career, but is he better off on a network at 12:35 or an already enormously popular cable show at 11? Would he change Late Night to make it more political or would it stick to the absurd comedy sketches mixed with celebrity interviews? And if Late Night stayed the same, would Stewart look de-clawed for giving up the political agenda that made The Daily Show so strong? Time will tell.