Tonight Show Budget Slashed, More Bad News For Jay Leno

The hits just keep on coming. The budget for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is being slashed from $2.3 million to $1.7 million a show, according to The Los Angeles Times.

News of the dramatic 26 percent cut comes on top of RadarOnline.com's previous report that two dozen staffers were fired from the NBC show on Friday, and Leno himself had taken a pay cut.

Jay offered to take the decrease in salary -- estimated to be dropping from $30 million to somewhere between $20 and 25 million a year -- to prevent even more staffers from being pink slipped.

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"Jay's foremost concern is for the wonderful people who work for The Tonight Show. He did what was necessary to ensure their well-being," the host's spokesman Bruce Bobbins said in a statement.

The Tonight Show is still the top-rated series in late night but neither the ratings or advertising dollars are anything like what they were before Leno's ill-fated turn at prime time in 2009.

Tonight Show Budget Slashed, More Bad News For Jay Leno | Radar Online

that's a crazy high budget to begin with

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What about that show could possibly cost 2.3 million dollars?

conan won.

Jay Leno has always been one of the best bosses on last night TV. His crew loves him because of what he does for everyone there. Letterman makes hella more than Jay does with less ratings.

Leno is catered for the older crowd... i've been watchin since the 90's so i'mma stick wit him if i watch any late night tv.

same !! I was thinking

staff salaries. they have well now about 175 ppl working for them....wait...i'm doing yearly math......that's a damn good question...cuz even with 175 or so ppl now at 1.7 mil an episode that 10k per person per episode....that aint right....food, studio space, research for the jokes, do they pay the guests??? i would love to know the answer to this one.....that's a lot.....it's tv though...that aint !!....and then it prolly includes his salary too...he's getting damn near 100k an episode if her works almost every weekday of the year, well not anymore due to his cut....hmmmm

hell naw

This. Jay ain't even funny.

25 million to say 10 jokes. Wow...

leno are for braindead white people Letterman is the GOD of latenight and all of show biz respects him... leno is just a big joke