Letterman's WorldWide Pants Doing Fine While Leno's Show Takes It On the Chin

Jay Leno's Tonight Show sees 25% cutback while Leno's paycheck is cut from almost $30M to $20M.

The show's staff saw roughly two dozen of their 200+ positions get cut while some of those who survived the layoffs reportedly saw their salaries reduced significantly.

The cost cutting measures were reportedly ordered b Comcast, NBC's new owners of controlling interest in the company.  The Philadelphia base company is attempting to save $600,000 each week, or 25% from the programs weekly budget.  According to sources, the show has never been much of a money maker.

When WorldWide Pants, the production company of David Letterman's late night show on CBS, was reached for comment on the shakedown at NBC, their official response was "no comment."  Unofficially, however, many at the company had a great deal of sympathy for those at the Tonight Show who lost their jobs.

When asked if their company might be experiencing similar money problems, the unofficial word was that despite a still troubled economy, the company and the show are doing "just fine."  In fact, David Letterman and WorldWide Pants as recently as last April signed up for another two years with nobody being laid off or taking pay cuts.

In 2009, Letterman did agree to a pay cut due to a troubled economy combined with lower advertising revenues.  It is reported that when it came time to lay off some of the Late Show staff, Letterman reportedly reached into his own pocket to make sure none of his staff suffered layoffs.  David Letterman is known for considering his staff like members of his immediate family.