On May 23, 1991, Johnny Carson stepped out onto the stage of New York's Carnegie Hall at the annual meeting of NBC affiliate stations - the final performer in the day's all-star lineup of NBC players, there to dazzle the affiliates with the power of the network's programming. But Carson had his own agenda: without any warning to his NBC bosses, he announced that he was leaving the "Tonight" show - NBC's flagship late-night program, and the most profitable television show ever.

Carson's motive for dropping this bombshell in front of NBC's most treasured - and needed - allies is only the beginning of one of the most incredible stories of corporate infighting and show business intrigues ever to play itself out on the soundstages and in the boardrooms of New York and Hollywood.

Bill Carter, who covers the television industry for the New York Times, has uncovered the true behind-the-scenes story of two giant corporations - CBS and NBC - and two quirky comedians with dreams and ambitions of their own, David Letterman and Jay Leno, fighting for the honor and the hundreds of millions of dollars that go with the abandoned late-night throne.

It's a story that's as big as the manipulations of Hollywood's most feared power brokers and multi-million-dollar negotiators - and as personal as the effect on executives of being snubbed by a party invitation.

Bill Carter interviewed all of the key - and dozens of not-so-key - players in this story to get the entire picture of posturing, infighting, hurt feelings, and political maneuvering that put NBC's biggest franchise at risk - and examines the fates of the executives whose wrongheaded decisions allowed it to happen.

The Late Shift tells the never-before-told story behind Johnny Carson's role in Letterman's decision to defect to CBS; the secret NBC documents that sealed the future of the "Tonight" show before Carson announced his retirement; the bizarre story of Jay Leno hiding in a closet to spy on a secret NBC staff meeting; evidence that Carson didn't willingly retire - he was maneuvered out; and NBC's final offer to David Letterman, and their reasons for keeping it a secret.

But, ultimately, like any great dramatic story, this is a story of people: Warren Littlefield, the head of NBC programming, who finally stepped out of the shadow of Brandon Tartikoff, only to make a tactical error that cost his company millions; Peter Lassally, David Letterman's executive producer, who tried desperately to mend the hard feelings between his boss and NBC - and almost pulled off a monumental coup; Helen Kushnick, Jay Leno's manager and producer, whose high-pressure tactics and high-decibel rantings cost her her job and her biggest client - and almost lost Jay his show; Howard Stringer, the president of CBS, whose strategic deal-making turned NBC against itself - ensuring that one way or another his network would become a force in late-night programming; and Bob Wright, the president of NBC, who realized too late that the executives beneath him had left the barn door open.