Jay Leno could jump to Fox after 'Tonight Show,' report says
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If NBC doesn’t want Jay Leno, Fox wants to give him a new home.
The head of Fox’s powerful affiliate board — who represents the majority of the 206 Fox stations around the country, said yesterday he favors building a new late-night show — starting at 11 o’clock — around the departing “Tonight Show” host.
“If Fox were to present the right business plan, the affiliate board would be interested,” Steve Pruett, the board chairman, told The Post.
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The prospect of Leno jumping networks — and gaining a half-hour jump on David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon, who has reportedly been told he is getting Leno’s job — would be a major blow to NBC’s plan for a smooth transition to a younger, hipper “Tonight” show host.
When he leaves, Leno “could take a sizable crowd with him,” says Hollywood manager Howard Lapides, who has repped Carson Daly, Jimmy Kimmel and others.
“Fallon will eventually develop his own audience, but it could take years.
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“If Jay Leno was my client I would take him straight to Fox tomorrow.