Good News about Letterman from the NYT

June 10, 2009
Letterman Reaches a Deal With CBS to Extend ‘Late Show’

By BILL CARTER
New York Times

David Letterman will continue hosting his “Late Show” on CBS through August 2012 — and maybe longer. Mr. Letterman and CBS have worked out a new contract, though an announcement may not be made for several days.

Executives involved in the negotiations said on Tuesday that Mr. Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, and CBS have agreed on the details of the contract, including, for the first time, a reduced license fee for his 11:35 p.m. program, and are waiting for a “deal memo” that would lay out the terms in formal language.

The news of the new deal for Mr. Letterman was first reported in The Hollywood Reporter.

The most significant parts of the deal, according to a senior executive close to the negotiations, were the concession by Worldwide Pants that CBS would pay less for the show over the next two years, and the absence of any specific stipulation that this would definitely be the last run in late night for Mr. Letterman, who is 62.

But Mr. Letterman and CBS did limit the new deal to just two more years. (His current contract runs until August 2010.) His previous agreements were generally three years apiece. And in his last published interview, Mr. Letterman said he was not sure how much longer he wanted to continue hosting “Late Show.”

However, the senior executive, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations, said that Mr. Letterman did not give any indication that he had made up his mind to step down at the end of this new contract.