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O'Brien mans CNBC slot
Pamela McClintock, STAFF
It's official: CNBC is becoming the dude network, at least in primetime.
Financial news net announced Wednesday it will begin airing episodes of NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" at 7 p.m. ET a day after they firstrun on the Peacock.
"Late Night" will replace the Washington newscast "Capital Report," which goes off the air Nov. 12.
Decision to enlist O'Brien's show is part of an aggressive campaign to turn CNBC's after-dark lineup into an entertainment destination. Earlier this year, net bowed "Dennis Miller" at 9 p.m. ET and "McEnroe" at 10 p.m., both original shows and both male-centric.
NBC Universal Television Group prexy Jeff Zucker was a chief architect of the initiative, which is being implemented by CNBC senior VP of primetime Bob Meyers.
O'Brien's show used to be repurposed on Comedy Central. When that deal expired, NBC was able to engineer bringing "Late Night" to CNBC. It comes not long after NBC announced that O'Brien will replace Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" in 2009.
Miller's talkshow has pulled OK numbers, while McEnroe's show has fared poorly, but CNBC insists it will remain on the sked. | 
