• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 9, 2010

 "NBC congratulates Conan": That's the official statement from the Peacock Network.

Yeah. But I'm sure we won't see any NBC on-air promos to that effect.

Snickers all around, I'm sure.

In an unusual Emmy marketing campaign, TBS -- who will get the services of Conan O'Brien come the fall -- manages to reap the rewards in getting O'Brien nominated for his efforts as the host of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien." 

NBC's Jay Leno wasn't nominated. Not even David Letterman (that's the first time that's happened since 1993). More snickers, I'm sure.  

"Everyone at TBS is excited to see Conan get this well-deserved recognition, and we're proud that he'll be joining our network in November," Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, said in a statement.   

Of course, Koonin knows a thing or two about marketing, coming to Turner years ago as a long time marketing executive at this little soft-drink company based in Atlanta.  It must have to do with the alphabet. Like Conan, that soft-drink company's name begins with the letter 'C'.

What could NBC say beyond what it did? Not much. Few networks let go of a TV show that is on the verge of winning an award. Even then, awards don't pay the electric bills at NBC. Maybe that should be the message: "We love our shows. We love when they get nominated. But awards hardware can't start up our generators when the ratings storms take us down." 

Now, if TBS wants to do something really unique and cool, it could start up a new series of TV promos this summer -- not just touting O'Brien's upcoming late-night talker, but mentioning that his nomination was specifically for his tenure at a NBC show.  

And then, when the promo is all done, TBS could say in big, bold letters: "Thanks, NBC. From here on it's... Nothing But Conan."