Letterman Open to Other TV Options : Television: When his current contract expires, the host of NBC’s ‘Late Night’ may be bound for another network.

David Letterman, who will mark the 10th anniversary of his late-night NBC show next week, said Monday that he would consider moving to ABC or elsewhere when his current contract runs out.

Letterman, who was passed over as Johnny Carson’s heir to host NBC’s “The Tonight Show”--which will go to Jay Leno in May--said that his contract has “at least” another year to go. Asked if he would consider moving to ABC, which reportedly has been interested in him, he told The Times in a phone interview from New York:

“Sure, depending on what happens when the contract is over. You’d want to consider any other opportunity. You’d be silly not to see what they brought you in terms of job offers.”

Letterman acknowledged that he has been in touch with two prominent show business figures about his affairs, attorney Jake Bloom and agent Michael Ovitz, who is widely regarded as the most powerful man in Hollywood.

“Yes,” he said. “More so Ovitz than Bloom at this point. I’d gone so long without an agent that when ‘The Tonight Show’ (decision) and other things came up, I thought it would be a good thing to have some agent relationship.”

Letterman said that he is aware that “everybody is saying ABC” when discussing his future. But he said: “I’ve not talked to anybody at ABC.”

The 44-year-old comedian, who has often used his show to zing General Electric--which bought NBC in 1986--acknowledged that some of his problems resulted from differences with GE, including financial matters. But he said his relationship with the network “is better now than it was.”

Letterman said his problems with GE--which has also taken on-air shots from Carson--began “not long after (the conglomerate) took over the network.” Money, he said, seemed to be “the most important thing” to GE.

“They can run their company any way that they want,” he said, “but it sort of infringed on us. Before, the network let us alone. Then we got into some situations under GE that never came up before (with the network).”

The situations, he said, included “some facility considerations, budget considerations, personnel situations. Everything became a fight.”

Thus, said Letterman, when the decision of who was going to take over “The Tonight Show” came up, “I thought maybe this was an opportunity” to improve his situation. It was, he said, “no surprise to me” that Leno got the job that Carson is relinquishing.

“The fact is that it was disappointing,” he said. “But it was a chance to gain some leverage: Now you’ve done this to us, and this and this, and we’re not happy about it.”

With Carson leaving and Leno still having to prove his pull as the permanent “Tonight” host, Letterman is the linchpin in NBC’s late-night lineup, the only area of daily programming in which the network has consistently been the ratings leader.

Letterman said that differences involving the facilities of his NBC studio--which he declined to specify--lasted for “a month and a half” and “drove me up a wall. It was far more devastating than the ‘Tonight Show’ situation.”

But he said his relationship with the company had been “so odd and uncomfortable” until lately. He added that because of the differences, he suggested, “You can talk to my agent, Mr. Ovitz. Do we (Letterman and NBC) have a relationship?”

Since then, he said, matters have improved.

“I still like the work,” said Letterman, “but on the other hand, you could argue that 10 years at 12:30 is enough and maybe you turn it over to a younger person. I think you have to consider that at 44, do you have to have a show that comes on after midnight?”

So he’s open?

“Something like that,” he said.