not that we didn’t see this “he won the demo” press release coming from a a million miles away, but even in a week when Lettermen reruns bested original Tonight Show airings in total viewers, the PR folks can still make lemonade out of those lemons…
CONAN TOPS THE LATE-NIGHT WEEK OF AUGUST 3-7 IN 18-49 OVER ALL CABLE AND BROADCAST COMPETITION
‘TONIGHT’ WINS THE WEEK OVER THE BROADCAST COMPETITION IN EVERY KEY DEMOGRAPHIC – ADULTS, MEN AND WOMEN 18-34, 18-49 AND 25-54
CONAN POSTS WEEK-TO-WEEK GAINS OF 8 PERCENT IN 18-49 VIEWERS AND 12 PERCENT IN TOTAL VIEWERS
‘TONIGHT ‘ PREVAILS OVER ‘LATE SHOW’ ENCORES BY A 62 PERCENT MARGIN IN 18-49 VIEWERS, AND A 138 PERCENT MARGIN IN 18-34 VIEWERS
JIMMY FALLON TOPS FERGUSON AND KIMMEL IN ADULTS 18-49, ADULTS 18-34 AND OTHER KEY DEMOS
WEEK-TO-WEEK, FALLON GAINS 7 PERCENT IN ADULTS 18-49 AND 13 PERCENT IN ADULTS 18-34
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – August 13, 2009 – NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” won the week of August 3-7 over all broadcast and cable competition in the key demographic of adults 18-49, posting week-to-week gains of 8 percent in adult 18-49 viewers and 12 percent in total viewers
Conan prevailed over all broadcast competitors, topping encore telecasts of CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” as well as ABC’s “Nightline” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in every key demographic – adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.
In the key demographic of adults 18-49, “Tonight” also ranked #1 on every night of the week. Conan has now ranked #1 versus “Late Show” on 45 of 45 nights since his June 1 debut night (including a tie; this excludes the week of June 29-July 3, when “Tonight” in rebroadcast was re-titled due to Wimbledon delays).
“Tonight” topped rebroadcasts of “Late Show” this week by a 62 percent margin in viewers 18-49, a 138 percent margin in 18-34 viewers and a 34 percent margin in adult 25-54 viewers. Conan has won every week since his June 1 debut by margins of 29 percent or more in adults 18-49 and 88 percent or more in adults 18-34 (excludes the week of June 29-July 3).
In addition to topping all broadcast competition for the week, “Tonight’s” 1.5 million adults 18-49 out-scored every cable network in the hour, as well as Comedy Central’s 11 p.m. ET telecast of “The Daily Show” and the 11:30 series “The Colbert Report.”
The median age of Conan’s audience last week was 46.8, more than 10 years younger than Letterman’s 57.0 and almost exactly 10 years younger than the 56.7 of ABC’s “Nightline.”
At 12:35 a.m. ET last week, NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” out-delivered CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and other key demos. Week-to-week, Jimmy posted gains of 7 percent in 18-49 viewers, 13 percent in 18-34 viewers and 8 percent in total viewers.
“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” led CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” by a 37 percent margin in 18-49 and a 90 percent margin in adults 18-34. Since his March 2 debut, Jimmy has ranked #1 or tied for #1 versus Ferguson in 18-49 on 107 of 110 nights. Last week, Jimmy also attracted a bigger audience in the valuable 18-34 demographic than did Letterman in rebroadcast, despite Jimmy’s later start time.
For the week of August 3-7, Conan’s average 1.490 million adults 18-49 topped the 919,000 of Letterman; in total viewers, Conan’s audience of 2.940 million persons finished in a virtual tie with Letterman’s 2.947 million; and in adults 18-34, Conan’s 689,000 out-scored Letterman’s 289,000. At 12:35 a.m. ET, Jimmy Fallon’s 789,000 adults 18-49 for the week out-delivered Ferguson’s 574,000; in total viewers, Jimmy’s 1.390 million trailed Ferguson’s 1.407 million; and in adults 18-34, Jimmy’s 404,000 topped Ferguson’s 213,000.
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of August 3-7. Ratings reflect “live plus same day” data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of “live plus seven day” data except for the two most recent weeks, which are “live plus same day.”)ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 1.1 rating, 5 share
CBS “Late Show,” 0.7/3 (in encore telecasts)
ABC “Nightline,” 0.8/312:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.4/2*12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 0.6/3
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.4/31:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.3/2 (in encore telecasts)TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 2.9 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 2.9 million viewers (in encore telecasts)
ABC “Nightline,” 3.3 million viewers12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.3 million viewers*12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 1.4 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.4 million viewers1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.8 million viewers (in encore telecasts)* Monday’s “Kimmel” was an encore.
SEASON TO DATE
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” 1.4/6
CBS “Late Show,” 1.0/4
ABC “Nightline,” 1.0/412:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/312:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” 0.8/4
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.6/31:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.4/3TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” 3.5 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.7 million viewers
ABC “Nightline,” 3.8 million viewers12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.6 million viewers12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” 1.9 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.8 million viewers1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 1.1 million viewersSELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF AUGUST 3-7
NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 0.7
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.6Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.7
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.4Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.32 million viewers
TOTAL VIEWERS
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 1.7 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 1.3 millionAdult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 2.2 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.1 million
Sad! It’s getting embarrassing now.
So basically, a 0.1 in the demo was taken from Letterman and added to Conan…..and this is when Letterman was in repeats. Ouch!
Jeff Zucker is a genius, I tell you!
With a headline like: “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien loses to Letterman repeats”, why even bother issuing a press release? Isn’t NBC embarassed enough?
I’m not sure what people expect of NBC. Do they want them to have a press release saying they’re disappointed in Conan’s ratings and his show is losing to repeats? No. Obviously they’ll highlight the positives when they have them. Fact is, TTS is still making money for NBC. All this will change for both Letterman and Conan when Leno moves back into the picture in a month. Trying to predict what’s going to happen in Late Night television with summer numbers is just not smart.
Haha. When Leno starts in the fall it has to hurt Conan, Leno’s viewers will only be reminded how disappointing Conan’s Tonight Show is and they could turn him off in droves. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. I could be wrong but I don’t think so.
None of these guys are stupid guys. Conan and his people have to know they have a problem. But the things is, you have to adjust in an orderly fashion, you can’t look panicked or that makes things worse.
The model is how Jay’s Tonight Show handled it. He came out with something that was too much a carbon copy of Johnny’s show, then made a set of changes that revamped the look and feel, made it feel more like a comedy club, and that fit Jay just fine.
Conan’s guys are probably hoping they can get a month or two after Jay comes on to get a complete idea of what they think is wrong and what they want to do. In a way, the biggest problem for them will be if Jay’s show blows up on the launch pad, because then it will force NBC to make the huge decision right away, to decide if they want to switch back before Jay goes somewhere else. If Jay lasts, Conan will get time to do a Conan 2.0 and see if that works better.
I’m going to be the lone wolf here and say I don’t think Leno’s show is going to affect Conan one way or the other. Many of the pepole who will be watching Jay’s show are people who don’t stay up and watch late night talk shows, so that won’t affect Conan. There are those who will watch Jay’s show because they’re a fan of Jay Leno and not Conan, and those people aren’t currently watching the Tonight Show anyway–they’re either watching Letterman or Cable. There are going to be people who watch both Jay and Conan, but they’re probably already watching Conan as it is.
I just don’t understand why everyone’s getting their knickers in a twist over a show that has yet to air and blaming it in advance to hurting Conan’s ratings. What NBC needs to worry about is that Conan isn’t comfortable in his new format, and his former viewers are apparently feeling alienated, they can’t embrace the new guy taking over Conan’s old job, and they’re jumping ship to CBS in late-late night–THAT’S where the real drain is taking place even though those ratings aren’t as important to the bottom line. And all of that is happening RIGHT NOW with Jay Leno off the air.
Well I mean he IS still winning the demos, so it’s not like they’re saying anything that’s not true. And it’s their job to make lemonade out of those lemons.
Also, I think it’s interesting to note that apparently Letterman’s younger audience is more loyal than his older audience. In a week of reruns, he lost around half a million to a million viewers, but only 0.1 of a point in 18-49 (roughly a hundred thousand viewers). Letterman’s older audience seems to be the one that decided to watch new Conans over Letterman reruns. Nightline and Kimmel seem unaffected.
Ferguson manages to tie (or edge out by an insignificant amount) Fallon when their lead-ins are equal. I think that’s interesting. Fallon’s definitely gotten a lot better, but I think he’s still too much of a kiss-ass to his guests. He makes even Conan look rude. Regardless, depending on your opinion of how much the lead-ins effect the late-late night numbers, Fallon actually looks more impressive than Conan. Conan, in his final months, was tying Ferguson while Late Night’s lead-in had almost two million more viewers. Now Fallon is tying Ferguson when their lead-ins are equal.
Conan’s creative problems so far, of course, aren’t Jay Leno’s fault. And he IS winning the demos, so his problems aren’t complete. But he’s smart enough to see the way it’s trending and know that part of it isn’t working.
To me, it’s about moving forward with the material and leaning less on ancient bits like The Year 3000. But the feel of the show should go back and recapture some of the warmth and informality of his old setting. It just doesn’t work to open with this ice-blue and art-deco-wood set and then have Howdy Doody walk out. Conan needs something that goes with his stupid silly comic style.
A fact that surprised me when I heard it: I still think of Conan as the goofy newcomer, but he’s the oldest person to take over the Tonight Show by four years. Jay was 42 when he started; Johnny was really young. Conan’s already had a great run as a host, but the flip side of that is, he has to start worrying about feeling like he still has new things to say.
And I do think that Jay’s show will be profitable, yet lower the overall numbers. But I’m just registering my prediction, I don’t need to beat anyone into believing that.
I think Conan is trying too hard. He’s got all these stupid gags and side shows going on. I don’t think he’s funny at all. I like it okay when he is just visiting with his guest. He seems sincere then and not so juvenile. I liked Jay Leno alot and I miss him as host of Tonight. I will watch his show but probably not Conan. If anything I will watch Letterman or nothing at all on network T.V.
“But the feel of the show should go back and recapture some of the warmth and informality of his old setting. It just doesn’t work to open with this ice-blue and art-deco-wood set and then have Howdy Doody walk out. Conan needs something that goes with his stupid silly comic style.”
Could not agree more.
“A fact that surprised me when I heard it: I still think of Conan as the goofy newcomer, but he’s the oldest person to take over the Tonight Show by four years. Jay was 42 when he started; Johnny was really young. Conan’s already had a great run as a host, but the flip side of that is, he has to start worrying about feeling like he still has new things to say.”
Yeah, but he’s also the same age Letterman was when he got the Late Show. Although then again, he also hosted Late Night longer than Letterman. So yeah you’re right, Conan’s old.
i think conan is very funny I however don’t think letterman is funny at all. i don’t understand how people like him so much.
Admittedly I’m a big Conan fan, and I couldn’t be happier. I never liked Jay and his horrible jokes. He had great interviews but I’m watching this for Comedy. If I wanted Inside the Actors Studio I’d watch that.
I think Conan’s show is about 30% more funny than his New York gig. I’m not liking how Andy fits in, but I like that he’s back. His monologue is definitely the best there is if you’re a goofball like myself.
I think that demographics will prevail, not total viewers. 50 and 60 year olds aren’t buying the things advertised on Letterman.
Oh and Jay’s new show? Talk about beating his “best bits” into the ground. For the love of God try something new.
LOL Latenight….you might be tired of his “best bits”, but those bits got nearly DOUBLE the total viewers and a 30% higher demo……
And again, you have to remember, we’re REAL early in Conan’s run. At this point in Jay’s run, people were saying he’s wasn’t up to it and Letterman was going to bring down the Tonight Show. And then Jay grew into the show and the show grew around him and he beat Letterman for a decade.
Conan will add new routines and drop old ones and maybe revamp the writing staff and at some point, when it doesn’t feel desperate, they’ll adjust the look. And then we’ll see. It would be crazy to bail on Conan the first year. The only thing is, we’re talking about NBC, so crazy isn’t out of the question.
And as good as these three guys are as hosts, when you talk about the quality of the writing, the thing you have to concede at the outset is that none of these guys have a staff in the league of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. If you don’t care about seeing celebrities and just want late-night comedy, you don’t even look at the broadcast networks.
Whoops, sorry to double-post but I’m passionate about this:
You also have to give Conan a break because perhaps his greatest comedic gift is coming out with his Howdy Doody face, putting on a sweet smile and then doing really foul stuff. And the move to 11:30 cost him the masturbating bear and the duck who eats his own shit and that whole world.
So give the man a little patience, he’s fighting with one hand tied behind his back until he figures out how to replace that end of the spectrum.
when it comes to actual comedy, written and produced comedy. conan and colbert are on top in my opinion. I feel that the colbert report is far far superior to the daily show. Daily show is funny and the correspondents are hilarious. But i think jon stewart gets too much credit. He’s good at nailing people when he wants to make a point. But as far as comedy goes I feel that Colbert deserves the credit. Stewart just plays a clip then says something in a weird voice. The Daily show has won 6 straight years at the emmys for best variety and until two years ago 4 straight for best writing for variety. conan’s people then colbert’s writing staff won the past two years. I’m hoping Colbert wins both this year, Colbert is way better than the daily show (sadly for me though, if Colbert Report wins best variety/talk show then Jon Stewart still wins, oh well). and that allison silverman must be funny too…she used to work for conan and now for colbert.
Officegurl, unlike Letterman and Leno, Conan had five YEARS to plan this move. It’s not like it was just dropped on him a few months ago. David Letterman was much better at his transition back in 1993, and he only had a few months to prepare – and that included opening an entirely new show on a network with no track record in late night.
Once again, I’m sure that Conan will get his act together, but I think it’s safe to say his debut has been disappointing. Just look at his numbers.
I was upset when I heard that NBC was replacing Leno. I don’t think O’Brien is funny. I haven’t watched him. I’m not going to watch him. Period
nuff said
Letterman stopped being funny when he left NBC.
Letterman is not funny but Conan makes him look like Johnny Carson.
How about changing the headline to: “Letterman’s viewers so old they don’t realize they are watching re-runs”?
im such a biased jerk……that last line cracked me up