• Variety, Wednesday, June 10, 2009 9:30 AM

Amid all the recent shuffling in late night TV, David Letterman has quietly been making plans to stay put at CBS for at least three more years. CBS and Letterman are deep in discussions on a new deal that would keep him at the helm of "Late Show With David Letterman" through the 2011-12 season.

Letterman's existing deal runs through the 2009-10 season, but the new three-year pact would supersede the final year of the previous contract. That's significant because CBS, in the throes of cost-cutting, is also negotiating a reduction in the license fee that it pays for "Late Show."

Letterman's Worldwide Pants owns "Late Show" outright, along with "The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson." Letterman's personal paycheck has long been said to be one of the richest in TV, pegged at about $30 million annually for most of the past decade.

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