'Tonight Show' staffers to be laid off as show leaves Burbank

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Jay Leno arrives at the “Tonight Show” studios in a Hudson Hornet on Jan. 28, 2014, in Burbank. Leno has hosted the show from 1992 to 2009 and began his second tenure on March 1, 2010, and will end as host of the show on Feb. 6, 2014, ending 22 years as a talk show host. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Leno exits his Hudson Hornet. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno in a studio hallway. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno plays a Peter Pan Gramophone in the rehearsal room of “The Tonight Show” band. Behind Leno is Rickey Minor, musical director and bandleader. In the early 1920s, ultra-portable folding gramophones were in vogue. The Peter Pan Gramophone folded ingeniously into a space a little larger than a box camera and was often known by the nickname “cameraphone.” (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno meets with writers during a pitch meeting in his office. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno reviews cue cards before the show’s taping. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno has some lunch. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno gets a haircut prior to taping. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno goes through hair and makeup at the “Tonight Show” studios. On the wall are photographs of some of Leno’s classic cars that he has driven to the studio and were photographed by his makeup artist Franz Hahn. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno jokingly reacts a magazine article about him. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno reviews notes at his desk on the set. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno on the set during rehearsal. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno during rehearsal. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno looks at a monitor during rehearsal. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno chats with Dwight Yoakam in Yoakam’s dressing room before the taping of that evening’s show. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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A poster on the floor of Jay Leno’s office. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Audience members wait to enter the taping. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Lynn Frasier and her daughter Stephanie Frasier smile for NBC Universal photographer Paul Drinkwater outside the “Tonight Show” studios. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno greets an audience member. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno talks with the audience just before taping begins. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno greets an audience member before taping begins. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno gets some last-minute adjustments by a crew member backstage before entering the stage to perform his monologue. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno is handed a glass of water by Joe Drago just before entering the stage for his opening monologue. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno talks with executive producer Debbie Vickers before taping. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno goes over cue cards. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno performs his opening monologue. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno with guest Thomas Haden Church during the show’s taping. The kittens are a gift from Church. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno holds the kittens given to him during the show. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno is seen from behind his desk during a commercial break. Comedian-actress Wanda Sykes, getting makeup adjustments, is his first guest of the evening for the taping of Jan. 28. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Wanda Sykes and Jay Leno. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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The audience applauds during taping. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno performs his opening monologue. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno watches Dwight Yoakam perform. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno with guests Dwight Yoakam, left, Wanda Sykes and Thomas Haden Church at the show’s conclusion. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Leno during his opening monologue. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

By Patrick Kevin Day

Jan. 31, 2014 3:37 PM PT

As “The Tonight Show” moves from its longtime Burbank home to New York City, where it originally debuted, 164 staffers will be laid off, an NBC spokesman confirmed on Friday.

The layoffs, which were first reported in the Burbank Leader, involve primarily production-based jobs and were not a surprise. Last May, NBC announced that Leno would leave “The Tonight Show” after 22 years (minus a few months when Conan O’Brien hosted) and be replaced by the New York-based Jimmy Fallon. The week leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics was picked to be Leno’s final week on the show.

The layoffs are expected to be staggered and will take place between Feb. 14 and April 4. Leno’s last episode of “The Tonight Show” will be next Thursday. Fallon’s first episode from New York City will be on Feb. 17.

PHOTOS: Talk show hosts who didn’t make the cut

Affected staffers have been encouraged to apply for other positions within the company, including Fallon’s East Coast version of the show.

“The Tonight Show” debuted in New York City in 1954 with Steve Allen as host. Jack Paar and Johnny Carson succeeded him, and it was during Carson’s 30-year run as host that the show moved to Burbank in 1972.

It isn’t the first time the show has seen layoffs in recent years. Back in 2012, dipping ratings and the changing economics of the TV business led to around 20 staffers getting laid off and Leno getting his estimated $26-million-a-year salary cut by 10%.

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