• Word has it Conan O'Brien and NBC have finally reached a deal. He'll leave with $25-30 million and could end up joining Fox eventually, although a deal is far from certain. As for NBC, fallout from the mess is expected to linger for a long time. And now Jimmy Fallon is the The Tonight Show's heir apparent.
• The networks are going to extraordinary lengths (and spending small fortunes) to cover the disaster in Haiti, not surprisingly. [THR]
• Things are looking up for financially challenged photog Annie Leibovitz. She's settled one of the lawsuits that was filed against her last year. [P6]
• The search is on for Simon Cowell's replacement on American Idol. [AP]
• Erica Hill is taking over for Russ Mitchell on CBS' Early Show. [NYT]
• A bunch of pink slips have landed at Universal Music. [LAT]
• These aren't fruitful times for aspiring novelists/screenwriters. [WSJ]
• Ricky Gervais hosts the Golden Globes on Sunday night. [MSNBC, NYM]

It seems God's work comes with special privileges: "Unlike almost every other property owner in the city, Goldman Sachs will not be responsible for clearing the snow off some of the sidewalks around its new headquarters in Battery Park City." [Downtown Express]

Should we assume Lydia Hearst's dreams of reality TV stardom have been crushed? That would be unfortunate! She really could have set an example (see here, here, here, and here) for the youth of America to follow. [Twitter]

Skip the gym this weekend. Go shopping instead and you'll be multi-tasking without even realizing it. According to a study conducted in Britain—and commissioned by a department store, naturally—a three-hour shopping expedition burns off enough calories to make up for eating a Big Mac:

The final tab is in for Mike Bloomberg's campaign for a third term as mayor. It cost him $108.3 million, or $185.10 for each of the 585,466 votes he received. That's a few million more than what Bloomberg had reported previously. And it's about $99 million more than what poor Bill Thompson spent to come within a mere five percentage points. [NYDN]

If you're like most people, you're a bit ticked off that the banks that were begging Washington for billions last year are the same ones that are now paying out giant bonuses. (JPMorgan reported today that it set aside a record $26.9 billion to compensate its employees in 2009.) But maybe it's time to stop whining and find something else to complain about?

Unless you manage a hotel, Broadway theater or overpriced electronics store, you probably have no use for the millions of tourists who flock to Times Square every year. That's about to change. Out-of-towners can now solve murders—and reduce NYC's crime rate in the process—after they visit Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum or have dinner at Applebee's:

Alexa Ray Joel moving out of her East Village apartment ... Kelly Cutrone walking with her kids in SoHo ... Rachel Weisz leaving her apartment ... James Gandolfini putting gas in his Vespa before getting caught up in a bit of traffic ... Whitney Port walking with a friend in the West Village ... Mandy Moore leaving a TV studio ... Pete Wentz playing with son Bronx in a park and later carrying him home on his back ... Ke$ha arriving at her hotel ... Bradley Cooper walking and eating downtown ... and Mischa Barton returning to her hotel.

• The Greenwich Village townhouse that belonged to late party planner Robert Isabell is up for sale again. Four months after an unidentified buyer picked up the home for $2.1 million, the 2,813-square-foot building at 16 Minetta Lane is now back on the market with a $3.5 million price tag. Then again, not every townhouse in NYC has a "basement hand-chipped by Tibetan-born sherpas" or a "rainforest atrium." [Curbed, PDE, NYT]

"Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their people about $145 billion for 2009, a record sum that indicates how compensation is climbing despite fury over Wall Street's pay culture. An analysis by The Wall Street Journal shows that executives, traders, investment bankers, money managers and others at 38 top financial companies can expect to earn nearly 18% more than they did in 2008—and slightly more than in the record year of 2007." [WSJ]

• Lady Gaga collapsed in her dressing room last night just before she was set to perform at Purdue University. Paramedics were called and she reported she was "feeling dizzy and having trouble breathing," and the concert had to be canceled. But she's okay today and has since apologized to her "little monsters" (fans) on Twitter, so everything is cool now. [Sun, MTV]
• Lindsay Lohan hung out with Jersey Shore's Paul "DJ Pauly D" Devecchio and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino at a club in LA the other night. If you, too, want to fist-pump with Pauly, you can: He'll be DJing at a Midtown baron Jan. 23, and the cover is only $10. [Us, NYP]
• George Clooney is hosting a telethon next week to raise funds for Haiti. Other celebs pitching in to help: Gisele Bundchen has pledged $1.5 million with husband Tom Brady; Madonna says she's good for $250K; and David Blaine is performing for three days in Times Square as part of a fundraiser for the Red Cross. [Us, NYDN, People]

Rachel Roy, the fashion designer and ex-wife of Damon Dash, turns 36 today. Actor Chad Lowe is turning 42. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is 50. Eddie Cahill of CSI: NY turns 32. Mario Van Peeples is turning 53. Shane McMahon, the wrestler and son of WWE chairman Vince McMahon, is 40. And singer Charo turns 59 today. A few people celebrating birthdays this weekend are below.

[January 13. Photo via Flickr]

It won't be long before women regularly live to the ripe old age of 120, say medical researchers. (Men can look forward to dying around the same age they always have.) If the idea appeals to you, you may want to turn off your TV, though. [Times UK, LAT]

• Is NBC close to resolving the mammoth mess it has on its hands? TMZ reports the network has reached a deal with Conan O'Brien (in which he'll leave NBC with some amount of money, and Leno, in turn, will take over The Tonight Show). Others, however, say the negotiations continue and NBC chief Jeff Zucker's been playing hardball with O'Brien. So who knows. Fortunately, Conan has lots of exciting options to consider when he finally walks out the door.
• Related: NBC announced its new, post-Leno primetime lineup today. [NYT]
• George Clooney will host a live telethon on Jan. 22 to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti. ABC, NBC, MTV, HBO and CNN will all broadcast it. [EW]
• Why isn't Fox News covering the tragedy in Haiti? Because rehashing faux controversies involving President Obama always comes first, duh. [MM]
• Avatar could top Titanic and become the top-grossing movie in history this weekend. In related news, it seems the Avatar backlash is in full swing.
• Robert Pattinson won't be Tobey Maguire's replacement in Spider-Man. [E!]
• American Idol creator Simon Fuller is starting up a new company. [LAT]
• Editor & Publisher is back in business under new ownership. [E&P]
• Is the ratings dry spell at MTV almost over? MTV execs hope so! [LAT]
• The cleanest and dirtiest cafeterias in the media industry. [DF]

The eight worst neighbors you can possibly have living in a New York City apartment building, according to a totally unscientific survey: "amateur gourmets; hoarders; nasty drunks; the Brady Bunch; trust fund babies; smokers and tokers; musicians, or, worse, aspiring musicians; and insecure rescue dogs." Or a reality TV "star" who drinks, smokes, has eight kids, four girlfriends, and sometimes ransacks his own apartment for the publicity value. [Brick Underground]

Would you like a job as an executive at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp? It looks like there's one minor hoop you have to jump through: donating thousands to Fox's PAC.

A judge in Rockland County sentenced former NY1 anchor Dominic Carter to a month behind bars today for beating up his wife in 2008. Carter wasn't too happy with the decision. But at least he didn't leave the courtroom empty-handed: The judge gave him a green sticker that reads "Attitude Makes the Difference" and an article about Matt Damon before he was escorted off to jail. [NYDN]

Ali Wise, NYC's most famous ex-publicist/alleged voicemail hacker, turned up in court this morning! But don't expect to see droves of socialites flocking to Manhattan Criminal Court in the months ahead to show their support when Wise takes the stand. Her lawyers are now looking to cut a deal with prosecutors and avoid a trial: