Conan Deal Official UPDATED

NBC announced its deal with Conan O'Brien via this morning's "Today" show.

You can read a good description of it from "Variety".

The deal is worth $45 million with $33 million going to Conan, and the rest going to his staff as severance pay.

Conan will be free to return to the airwaves as early as September. However, it's unclear at this point who owns the rights to "Triumph the Insult Dog" and the rest of Conan's characters and bits.

Jay Leno will return to "The Tonight Show" March 1st...

UPDATE: NBC’s Lee Cowan reported this morning on “Today” that Conan cannot take any of his characters with him. You can see Cowan’s report here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy