Jay Leno has an heir.
NBC has committed to turning over "The Tonight Show," now hosted by Mr. Leno, to younger comic Jimmy Fallon eventually, says a person familiar with the situation.
No formal deal has been made with Mr. Fallon, the person said. The comic now hosts "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on NBC, airing after "The Tonight Show." The timing of the changeover also hasn't been determined, although the person said it could be tied to the end of Mr. Leno's contract in 2014.
Mr. Leno has been host of the show since 1992.
News of NBC's commitment to Mr. Fallon, which was reported on the New York Times website on Wednesday, comes just months after Walt Disney Co. ABC moved Jimmy Kimmel to go head-to-head with Mr. Leno and his CBS rival David Letterman.
The ABC decision highlighted a generational shift rippling through late night, as the big names age. While Mr. Leno and Mr. Letterman are both in their 60s, Mr. Kimmel and Mr. Fallon are much younger.
Still, the timing of any shift is risky. Mr. Leno continues to lead the late-night ratings race, ahead of both Mr. Letterman and Mr. Kimmel, respectively, according to Nielsen figures provided by NBC.
And NBC has been burned before going after younger viewers at late night. About three years ago, the network moved its comic Conan O'Brien to "The Tonight Show" slot at 11:35 p.m. in 2009, pushing Mr. Leno in to prime time. But the reordering didn't work. Ratings were unimpressive and Mr. Leno was returned to his original time slot.
NBC is a unit of NBCUniversal, which is a unit of Comcast Corp.
Handing over "The Tonight Show" to Mr. Fallon would mean returning the show's production to New York City, from where it had originally been broadcast, the person said. Production was moved to Los Angeles by its longtime host, Johnny Carson, in 1972.
Mr. Fallon broadcasts his show from a studio at NBC's headquarters in New York, once occupied by "The Tonight Show." The decades-old studio, at 30 Rockefeller Center, is currently undergoing a renovation, the person said. Many years have passed since an update, the person said, which will include an expansion of the space for a larger audience. The studio will be used by Mr. Fallon whenever he takes Mr. Leno's slot.
Speculation that Mr. Fallon would one day succeed Mr. Leno has circulated for months. The talk faded briefly last year, after Mr. Leno extended his contract by another two years. His contract extension came as the show was forced to cut its budget and trim its staff, with Mr. Leno taking a 50% pay cut. NBC's entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt told The Wall Street Journal last September that the show was still profitable but was "not the cash cow it was in the Johnny Carson days."
