NBC first asked Oprah Winfrey to move to prime time before offering a prime-time show to Jay Leno, Television Week reports. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said he talked with Winfrey about two years ago about an 8 p.m. time slot, although she passed, saying she might have considered it at an earlier point in her career, the publication reports. The network also talked with David Letterman about an 8 p.m. show when his contract was about to expire at CBS, TVWeek adds.
—Aimee Picchi