BURBANK, Calif. — Conan O’Brien says he got a phone call from David Letterman over the holidays. The CBS host wanted to make sure a year of late-night TV turmoil hadn’t created a rift between them. O’Brien told reporters last week he and Letterman have “always been good. I said he didn’t owe me a phone call, but I appreciated it.”
O’Brien wouldn’t be so receptive to a call from Jay Leno, who preceded and replaced him as “Tonight” show host.
He says the reason is no mystery, noting, “We all know the story.”
| DVRs give ‘Conan’ the lead among young viewers |
| After two months on the air, Conan O’Brien’s late-night talk show is the favorite of younger viewers — that is, when DVR usage is factored in, according to basic-cable network TBS. |
| Most ratings figures count TV viewership only within the 24-hour period after a show is aired. By this standard, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” is the champ in total viewers, as well as in the desirable 18-to-49 demographic. |
| But “Conan” ranks No. 1 in the key 18-to-49 and 18-to-34 audience segments when “time-shifted” data is included, which adds viewers of the show up to a full week after its airing. |
| By this measure, “Conan” has topped all cable and broadcast late-night talk shows since its premiere Nov. 8 through the end of the year, TBS announced last week. |
| Time-shifted viewing is accounting for a significant portion of the “Conan” audience, including 361,000 of the 1,443,000 viewers in the 18-to-49 demo and 236,000 of the 930,000 viewers in the 18-to-34 category watching the show. |
| Among viewers 18-to-49, NBC’s “Tonight Show” ranks second to “Conan,” with 1,345,000 viewers, TBS said, citing Nielsen Co. figures for Live-Plus-7-Day viewing. |
| TBS attributed “Conan’s” sizable boost from time-shifted viewing to the show’s young fan base, which is more likely to record and watch shows on a delayed basis. The median age for “Conan” viewers is 33, while most broadcast late-night talk shows’ audiences have median ages in the 50s. O’Brien’s former roost, “Tonight,” and its head-to-head CBS rival, “Late Show with David Letterman,” are both 56. – AP |
O’Brien said the experience of losing the “Tonight” show left him and his staff feeling like a band of pirates that stuck together through hard times. It’s a dynamic he believes makes the show stronger.
O’Brien’s new TBS show, called “Conan,” began in November. He said the past year’s upheaval has left him more willing to take chances onstage.
“I’m very appreciative,” he said. “There’s nothing like walking away from the ‘Tonight’ show that makes you appreciative of being on the air and having a TV show. I think that feeling is coming through.”
O’Brien’s show and “Lopez Tonight,” which follows it on TBS’ lineup, both have an audience with an average age of 33, the youngest among the late-night talk shows.
“I like performing for children,” he said. “I have a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. That’s a workout. Making them laugh brings me a lot of joy.”
He said his comedy has an inherent silliness that a younger audience may appreciate. Reaching a young audience is usually a strength in television, but NBC was concerned that O’Brien wasn’t expanding his audience beyond that.
He acknowledged some sadness at no longer being a part of NBC and being disconnected with some people he spent a lot of time with. The Monday after his last “Tonight” show, he called his assistant so they could meet to discuss some business. She wondered: “Where?”
So they met in a store that sells pies.
“There’s a whole body of work that I feel a little detached from,” he said.
