Conan falls, Leno still #1

[Amaris]

You realize of course that Conan's show hasn't been on long enough to establish a trend, right? Keeping in mind that he's had the Conan show for a few months, and that Jay has been host of the Tonight Show for 17 years? Plus, according to these charts (Link), Conan's doing pretty good, and that they're pretty much running in the same pack.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

Interesting that you chose a chart from 4 weeks ago, that just happens to be from the week right before Conan's ratings bottomed out at 0.4 when he went into repeats.

Here's a more up to date chart, and if you look at the original post, you can see that Conan stays at 0.6 the week following this.

 

[Davros]

What we need is a return of Fernwood Tonight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kVKUpJ8vto

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think it only shows that while Leno is on a major network that everyone can get, that Conan is on a network that not everyone does get, so I don't think the comparisons are fair in terms of ratings because one will get more exposure no matter what.

Well, according to this, TBS is in 101 million households, which is about 87% of all US TV households. This really isn't enough to account for the differences between Leno's ratings and Conan's ratings.

Also, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim is in 85% of US TV households, less than TBS, but it usually beats Leno in the key demo (it got a 1.1 last week vs Leno's 1.0).

Thanks, you just proved my point. It's a cable channel, in US households. As an example, NBC and other major networks are available elsewhere, like Canada. TBS isn't, so by default it isn't going to get as wide a coverage as NBC. The demographic is smaller because of the smaller outreach, therefore it will get less ratings. And that's what makes it so hard to compare a cable network show against a major network show. The odds are against it.

Not sure what Cartoon Network has to do with this.

 

[Amaris]

Interesting that you chose a chart from 4 weeks ago, that just happens to be from the week right before Conan's ratings bottomed out at 0.4 when he went into repeats.

Here's a more up to date chart, and if you look at the original post, you can see that Conan stays at 0.6 the week following this.

Eh, nothing "interesting" about it. It's called "hey, a fuckin' chart, I think I'll use it as an example." You may ascribe whatever motives you like, but believe me when I say, I don't give the heartiest of fucks where people think Leno should be or Conan should be, I like watching Conan because he's fun to watch. Anything else is irrelevant. Seriously, "Oh teh noes, Conan isn't #1! My life is over!". I don't give a good goddamn if he's dead last, he's fun. The lower the ratings, the more he can get away with, so bring it.

 

[the G-man]

I don't give a good goddamn if he's dead last, he's fun. The lower the ratings, the more he can get away with, so bring it.

You've never heard of something called "cancellation," have you?

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

The demographic is smaller because of the smaller outreach, therefore it will get less ratings. And that's what makes it so hard to compare a cable network show against a major network show. The odds are against it.

Not sure what Cartoon Network has to do with this.

My point was that Adult Swim (which airs on Cartoon Network) regularly beats Jay Leno, even though not everybody has Cartoon Network. So the idea that a cable network can't compete or can't be compared with a broadcast network is obviously false.

Going by the comments in this thread, you'd think TBS was some tiny, niche network, but it's in 101 million homes. There are more than enough people with TBS to blow Leno out of the water at 11:30.

 

[Amaris]

I don't give a good goddamn if he's dead last, he's fun. The lower the ratings, the more he can get away with, so bring it.

You've never heard of something called "cancellation," have you?

TBS isn't going to cancel Conan. For cable, he brings in good enough numbers, and even if they drop, Conan is brand recognition. They've tied him into their own, and so he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[Data Holmes]

I wonder how much the second nightly showing, the net rebroadcast on teamcoco.com, and dvr numbers are effecting these ratings.

 

[Mr Light]

I'm a total CoCo nut now and I only watch it on the internet, usually several days after it aired.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I have to admit I generally choose The Daily Show over Conan at 11PM, I may switch over but I usually start that way for sure. Especially because the Stewart open is the best part of the show. I'm not so sure jump starting at 11 is actually an advantage, I think Conan would be better served going neck-to-neck with the others most similar to him.

 

[BillJ]

The late news (11pm EST) is still a pretty big draw for local affiliates of ABC, NBC and CBS then you have The Daily Show which has more in common with Nightline than other late night talk shows also on at 11pm.

The only way you get a truly accurate rating is to have Conan airing in the 11:35pm EST slot directly against The Tonight Show and The Late Show.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Jay Leno will always beat Conan in Dorito eating contests.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Yeah but Conan's show is funnier :thumbs:

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I have to admit I generally choose The Daily Show over Conan at 11PM.

Yeah, I always watch The Daily Show and Colbert, but if I'm still up I'll watch the 1:00 AM rerun of Conan's show. Even though the ratings pressure is a lot less on TBS, I hope they take the 1:00 AM slot and online viewings on Team Coco into account.

 

[Balrog]

I don't care. Conan's still funny as hell.

 

[jadcox@mindspring.com]

I adore Conan, and was looking forward to the show, but I find it too hard to turn away from The Daily Show and Colbert.

 

[jadcox@mindspring.com]

Also, remember that these numbers ONLY include the late night, first run of The Daily Show. If you could the repeats throughout the day, The Daily Show is doing amazingly well.

 

[exodus]

As tired as I am of Conan fan boys spinning the numbers in his favor, in all fairness he is on cable. It isn't realistic to expect him to beat Leno.

 

[davejames]

I love Conan, and was DVRing every episode for the first couple months or so, but frankly it was all starting to feel a bit repetitive after awhile.

Ultimately there's only so much TV I can watch a night, and Stewart and Colbert have both raised the bar so high by this point that I just HAVE to stick with them.