Ludwin was promoted from executive vice president to senior vice president in 2005. Following the 2010 "Tonight Show" conflict, Ludwin fell out of favor with Jay Leno, who was unhappy the executive had backed Conan O'Brien over him. Leno stopped communicating with Ludwin. In September 2011, NBC announced that Ludwin would make a transition into acting as a consultant for the network. He left NBC in 2012.