[quote name='007']God, those Ebersol comments just make you want to scream. It's the kind of backwards executive bullshit that makes no sense to anyone with half a brain.
The saddest thing about all of this is that, even in those comments, it becomes obvious that they were ALWAYS worried about the appeal of Conan on the Tonight Show. A situation that could've completely been stopped 5 years ago has now turned into a network cluster

of epic proportions.
If I were Conan, I'd actually walk today (if, you know, financially possible) after those comments. Being called an 'astounding failure' after almost no late night host has really been successful right away is just ludicrous. One of the underlying things here is this, though... they're

ing Conan because he wouldn't take their advice on his act. At the core, I really think that's what it comes down to.[/QUOTE]
I don't think anybody really believes Zucker's comments are genuine. (let's be real: Zucker sent out Ebersol to do this precisely because he's an exec who's on the periphery of this whole scandal, as Ebersol is the head of sports).
This is a scramble to dent Conan's armor because he won't be working for NBC in a week. NBC, NBC execs, and Leno are all coming off as major heels in this - primarily because they are. But they're trying to frame the debate, and that starts with Ebersol trying to make it seem as if Conan was stubborn and difficult to work with.
This is image, this is Machiavellian. I don't believe for a moment that Ebersol believes what he says. But he's doing his job, he's being a loyal company man, and trying to shape public perception. It's their last real opportunity here, since they've shown their hand already, right?
And don't forget how hubris for execs comes into play here. Zucker's never been wrong in his own mind, which is why NBC is in the shitter and TNT got "Southland" for next to no money.
It's part of the play, really. Conan will be painted as a primadonna, someone who was a niche performer who refused to listen to the voices of reason, someone who insisted he do his own thing - and that's why he had to go. That's the frame NBC is building, and fools will buy it. Even if buying it means believing that NBC execs thought of themselves as superior comic minds and writers to Conan and his staff who had over a decade and a half together.