According to TBS reports, Conan O’Brien’s new talk show, Conan, averaged 2.2 million viewers between ages 18-49 in its first week, topping all other late-night programs. A total of 4.2 million tuned in to Conan‘s Nov. 8 premiere, and the show averaged 2.9 million viewers for the week, with a projected median age of 32. “Conan is a big hit among young viewers, with a median age that is more than two decades younger than the show’s rivals on broadcast,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president, head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
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‘Conan’: What Is/Isn’t Working
dear god Jeff Zucker is an idiot.
Not so sure about that.
Last night, Leno got a 1.1 in the 18-49 demo…Conan sunk to a 1.0. After 4 measly days, Leno is beating Conan in the ad friendly demographic already.
Yeah, but you can’t count last night because NBA, NFL and College Football were all on at the start of the 11pm hour which would explain the drop last night. You have to take the whole week. Ad buyers don’t base the ad buy on one night – it is the average of the whole week and he won the week.
Yeah that’s fine, but you’re delusional if you think Conan will be able to sustain these types of numbers. We’ll have to wait over the next few weeks to get a better picture of his ratings.
It doesn’t really matter if Conan beats Jay in the ratings or not. All that matters is that TBS continues to keep him on the air. The way I see it, it’s like Mad Men. Mad Men is a better, smarter show than say CSI: Miami, yet CSI: Miami gets better ratings. As long as there are enough intelligent people watching to keep intelligent shows on the air, that’s all I care about.
1.0 in target demo on basic cable > 1.1 in target demo on regualy broadcast tv…
Think of it like this. If a pro football game has a stadium that seats 100,000 people, and they put 50,000 people in the stadium, its half full. Now put that same team in a stadium that seats 50,000 people and it sells out. TBS is happier with the 1.0 than NBC is with the 1.1
Bingo. Conan is also competing with 11 o’clock news and Jon Stewart before he then competes with Leno and Letterman for the last half hour. Only time will tell, but even with a bit of a drop, this looks like a great success story for Conan and TBS.