Historically, Jay Leno hasn't shied away from speaking about his job status. Leno's statements over the last few weeks—full of jokes about NBC, Conan O'Brien and David Letterman—reinforced that characteristic. Recently, however, he's been unusually mum. What gives?

Another day, another piece of news about broadcast television's slow, painful death rattle. It's no longer just primetime that's hemorrhaging: the big old networks are fighting battles in daytime, in news, and royally fucking up their once-sturdy late night empires.

In your terrifying Tuesday media column: Nancy Grace is unstoppable, Robert Thomson is strangely attractive, a British newspaper editor is wrong, and Mississippi is king of journalism states!

On Conan's last broadcast of The Tonight Show, he thanked NBC for all they have done for his career despite the whole debacle. Everyone applauded his decision to go out in a classy manner. Everyone except Howard Stern. (NSFW Language)

Last Friday, Conan O'Brien bid The Tonight Show adieu. Jay Leno will reclaim the "King of Late Night" title in March. But to understand the present, one must know the past: here's how we got to where we are now.

The Haiti earthquake: Sad, right? Especially for the media—our heroes on the front line, right there in dirty Haiti. Now, the media must start coming home, as heroes. Most are leaving gradually; one network's leaving fast as hell.

Conan O'Brien just closed out his final episode as host of The Tonight Show, and what a show it was: hilarious shenanigans, Steve Carell, Tom Hanks, Neil Young, a tearful statement of gratitude, and Will Ferrell with a mothereffing cowbell.

Moments ago, Conan O'Brien confirmed that tomorrow is his last day as host of The Tonight Show, but promised to go out with an NBC-bashing bang. Meanwhile, Jay Leno announced his return to 11:35 as David Letterman continued eviscerating him.

Tonight, while David Letterman and Jay Leno were busy insulting each other, Conan O'Brien did everything he could to piss off NBC: the return of the Masturbating Bear, a $1.5 million prop and a bombshell dropped by guest Adam Sandler.

If it wasn't clear before, it is now: David Letterman hates Jay Leno. Letterman repeatedly destroyed Leno on his show tonight, implying he's a thief and all-around bad guy. And while O'Brien made fun of NBC, Leno took personal digs.

• Word has it Conan O'Brien and NBC have finally reached a deal. He'll leave with $25-30 million and could end up joining Fox eventually, although a deal is far from certain. As for NBC, fallout from the mess is expected to linger for a long time. And now Jimmy Fallon is the The Tonight Show's heir apparent.
• The networks are going to extraordinary lengths (and spending small fortunes) to cover the disaster in Haiti, not surprisingly. [THR]
• Things are looking up for financially challenged photog Annie Leibovitz. She's settled one of the lawsuits that was filed against her last year. [P6]
• The search is on for Simon Cowell's replacement on American Idol. [AP]
• Erica Hill is taking over for Russ Mitchell on CBS' Early Show. [NYT]
• A bunch of pink slips have landed at Universal Music. [LAT]
• These aren't fruitful times for aspiring novelists/screenwriters. [WSJ]
• Ricky Gervais hosts the Golden Globes on Sunday night. [MSNBC, NYM]

Andy Rooney: "I think I'll know when I can't do this anymore. I think I'd quit before anyone tells me to." Later: "Sunday's essay is about the weather." [USAT]

Conan O'Brien took to the airwaves tonight on the day he announced he'll leave NBC if he has to follow Jay Leno with another NBC/Leno-bashing broadcast. David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson joined in, while Leno stayed mostly quiet.

• More on the epic mess at NBC: Conan O'Brien's manager says the late-night host's missive earlier today "came from the heart" and wasn't a negotiating ploy; TMZ reports that Conan is close to signing a deal with Fox; the public is siding with O'Brien over Leno; Letterman is taking lots of pleasure in the drama, naturally; and as for NBC chief Jeff Zucker, the man responsible for creating this disaster, this latest chapter may (finally!) be his undoing.
• Sarah Palin showed up for her first day at Fox News today. [AP, NYT]
• Is Rupert Murdoch about to kick Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to the curb? Some people seem to think so, although it's probably pretty unlikely. [NYM]
• Longtime Condé Nast exec Richard Beckman is leaving the publishing giant to become the CEO of e3 Global Media, the company that is now in control of The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, AdAge and others. [NYP, NYT]
• Remember that breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS that Dan Rather lost last fall? His motion to appeal the decision has ended in defeat, too. [AP]
• ABC is bringing back Cougar Town, The Middle and Modern Family for second seasons. No word on the fate of Conveyor Belt of Love, alas. [LAT]
• Who will replace Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 4? Take your pick! [LAT]
• Google may close its China operations over freedom of speech issues. [PC]
• "Just how bad was 2009 for magazines?" Pretty bad. [NYT]

In your smiley Tuesday media column: newspapers only sell online subscriptions to lone nuts, Dan Rather loses on appeal, a headline is debated, and Paste magazine lives.

On I Get That A Lot, celebrities go undercover in the service industry to see if their customers recognize them; hidden cameras record the shenanigans. Tonight's episode featured a segment with Julie Chen that was, in a word, perfect.

Hello! Are you watching TV tonight? You are? Awesome. Here's what you need to do: turn the channel to CBS at 9:00 PM and join us in the comments as we live blog The 36th Annual People's Choice Awards.

God—no, sorry, Morgan Freeman—will replace Walter Cronkite as the guy who introduces Katie Couric with his ghost voice on the CBS Evening News. Did you know...

How much money do you think "Avatar" would have made if it didn't snow a million inches this weekend? $1 billion? $300 trillion? Stupid snow. What does God have against James Cameron besides the fact he's sort of a douche?

CBS actually dropped the ax earlier today so by the time David Faber talked to Moonves, he'd probably already heard the show will end next September. But it was probably a call from his wife, Jenny: Jenny Faber's mother is Marie Masters, who started in the role of Dr. Susan Stewart in 1968. She left the show in 1979 only to return in 1986. She still plays the character occasionally today and even served as a writer on the show at one point.