NBC-Universal CEO Jeff Zucker broke his silence on The Tonight Show fiasco while speaking to Charlie Rose Monday, in the wake of a bitter power struggle between NBC, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien that has shaken the network to its very foundation.

Zucker said the offer is still on the table for O'Brien to host The Tonight Show at 12:05 a.m. EST, but that if O’Brien refused, the late-night lineup would consist of Jay Leno followed by Jimmy Fallon.  In the understatement of the year, Zucker admitted to Rose that O’Brien was “not comfortable”  remaining on The Tonight Show at a later start time. He confirmed that O'Brien's contract had no written stipulation as to when The Tonight Show would air, as previously reported.

• TAGS

• Charlie Rose
• Conan O’Brien
• Jay Leno
• Jeff Zucker
• Jimmy Fallon
• Late Night
• Los Angeles
• nbc
• The Tonight Show

NBC Universal Sports chairman Dick Ebersol -- fed up Thursday after a week of hearing Jay Leno ripped by his late night peers -- called Conan O'Brien and David Letterman “chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn’t beat in the ratings.”

“What this is really all about," Ebersol told the NY Times, "is an astounding failure by Conan... we bet on the wrong guy.”

• TAGS

• Chicken Hearted
• Conan O'Brien
• David Letterman
• Dick Ebersol
• Jay Leno
• Jeff Zucker
• Late Night
• nbc