NBC Denies Plan to Drop Carson

An NBC spokesman denies a report that the network is planning to dump Johnny Carson from the “Tonight” show.

The New York Post quoted an unidentified source as saying NBC wants to replace Carson, 65, with his regular fill-in, Jay Leno, whose ratings are often better than Carson’s.

The source said Carson, who works on a year-to-year contract basis and makes $20 million annually, would get the ax now if the network could get away with it.

“But out of loyalty, they want to give him one more year because it’ll be his 30th anniversary on the air,” the source said.

But NBC spokesman Matt Messina denied that’s the case. “Johnny Carson will be the one who decides when he leaves the show,” Messina said. “It’s Carson’s show.”