In some ways, the Leno-O'Brien late night saga is over: Jay Leno returns to host the "Tonight Show" and Conan O'Brien leaves NBC with tens of millions in his pockets, a buyout of sorts but also hush money for being yanked from the "Tonight" host's chair after just a few months.

But of course the saga is not over. The pain NBC has suffered through its mismanagement of the entire mess will remain a scar on the brand, and in the end it's really accomplished nothing in the way of fixing its primetime problem by moving Leno from the 10 p.m. timeslot, where his weeknight strip had done so poorly.

The question is, just how much has the network been damaged? And while we're at it, how will the network dig its way out?

These and similar questions were put to media planners and buyers in a poll last week as O'Brien was negotiating his exit, and as Media Life polls go, this was a hot one, with a slew of choice words from readers regarding the network and its image-battered top executive, Jeff Zucker.

Readers were asked to rank the whole Leno affair on a scale of one to 10 in terms of how NBC executives handled the whole affair, one being in the worst possible manner, 10 being in the best possible manner.

Worst was the easy winner. Full 37 percent of respondents, the largest share, gave NBC executives a 1. Another 31 percent gave them a 2, and 17 percent gave them a 3, for a total of 86 percent ranking NBC executives at the bottom.

No surprise then that readers believe Zucker came out the worst in the whole affair.

Asked the name the person most damaged by the Leno fiasco, 75 percent picked Zucker. No 2, but a distant No. 2, was Leno at 18 percent. Everyone else involved got few votes.

As one might expect, O'Brien came out the best as the fall guy in the drama, in the view of 71 percent of respondents. David Letterman, whose late show on CBS, rose to No.1 against O'Brien, came in No. 2 at 14 percent of the vote.

What damage was done to the NBC brand? Quite a bit in the eyes of media planners and buyers.

Nearly two thirds of respondents, 58 percent, agreed with this statement: "It was a spectacle like I've never seen before, proving just how poorly managed the company is. They should have never allowed O'Brien and Leno to let it play out like that on television."

But 26 percent were not so sure, agreeing with this statement: "The jabs got pretty jagged at times, but if 'Tonight' moves back ahead of David Letterman, NBC suddenly doesn't look so dumb and all is forgiven."

Just 16 percent believed NBC's brand was not damaged, agreeing with this statement: "People have short memories, and anyway, the media was much more fascinated by this than viewers."

A key issue for the network is how Leno will do in his old slot as "Tonight" host, and as expected opinions are divided. More respondents than not believe Leno will return to No. 1 in late-night, with 18 percent believing he will do so in short order, agreeing with this statement: "Leno's reputation may have been tarnished in the media, but the people who watch him don't care. He'll quickly return to first place."

A larger share, 43 percent, think he will do so but not right away. They agreed with this statement: "It will take a few months for him to build after all this backlash."

But nearly as many, 39 percent, think Leno won't climb back to No. 1, soon or ever, agreeing with this statement: "David Letterman and 'Nightline' have thrived in his absence, and there is a lot of anti-Leno sentiment over this whole debacle."

Media Life readers were also divided on how NBC will do with the 10 p.m. slot with the programming it plans to air in the timeslot in place of Leno.

The question: Will the absence of "The Jay Leno Show" in primetime help NBC regain some of the audience it lost last fall?

Nearly half, 49 percent, aren't sure one way or the other, agreeing with this statement: "Losing 'Leno' helps a lot, but they don't have much time to promote the new schedule, and the Olympics has never been an effective platform to hype new shows."

And 23 percent think it will not. They agreed with this statement: "The network is on a down slope regardless of what is in the 10 p.m. slot."

Just 28 percent believe NBC will benefit, agreeing with this statement: "The schedule NBC has slated for after the Olympics flows much better than its current schedule."

To get readers' reactions to the Leno debacle in their own words, Media Life asked two open-ended questions.

First, if you were Jeff Zucker's new boss at Comcast, what would you tell him about the way he handled this fiasco? Would you agree with him that true leadership is about taking chances, or should he have seen the folly of this strategy right away?

Here are just some of the responses:

"Fire Zucker, save the network."

"Thanks for your service. The security guard will be escorting you out of the building."

"Fire him."

"I would tell Jeff Zucker, 'You are done.'"

"He should never have agreed to give Leno his own primetime show. A couple of years back when Leno signaled he didn't want to move, it could have been sorted out then rather than let it get to this stage."

"I don't think that spending the least amount of money possible on programming is 'taking a chance.' It shows a misunderstanding of audiences."

"I'd fire him. Yes, leadership involves taking chances. But when all your chances end up in failure, and the most recent leads to a debacle seriously damaging a major broadcasting institution, you have to walk the plank."

"You are an idiot. You are fired!"

"True leadership is about taking the RIGHT chances. They bet on Leno in primetime for all the wrong reasons after making the initial mistake of giving him the bum's rush back in '04."

The second open-ended question was this: What will be the legacy of the NBC-O'Brien-Leno debacle?

A few answers:

"From 'Must See TV' to 'Can't Stop Watching This Trainwreck.' The luster of the NBC brand has been fading for many years but this debacle has killed all the great equity that was built up over the '80s and '90s."

"People will forget until another shakeup or change in late night!"

"Leno has always come off as a 'regular guy.' Eventually he will regain his popularity for the show and himself. O'Brien, though somewhat popular because he was mistreated, did not gain ratings in many demos due to the controversy, because he was not a good talk host for 'Tonight Show.'"

"NBC will never totally recover."

"NO TALK SHOWS IN PRIME TIME."

"Hopefully, it will lead to a changeover of leadership at NBC so the network can be saved. It should also lead to not making deals four years in advance!"