'Conan' TBS Premiere Is Red-Hot

Conan

Day One of the TBS Conan O'Brien era came in better than expected -- with big TV interest, much younger viewers, and the first head-to-head victory for a cable network against the broadcast competition in the late-night daypart.

Some 4.16 million overall viewers, according to Nielsen, watched TBS' "Conan" at 11 p.m -- higher than NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" at 3.5 million and CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," which grabbed 3.4 million.

"Conan" rang up a big victory in two other key viewing areas that advertisers crave: 18-34 and 18-49 viewers. "Conan" had 3.29 million 18-49 viewers; Letterman had 1.3 million viewers and Leno, 952,000. "Conan" also easily won among 18-34 viewers with 2.45 million.

But advertisers believe the real battle for O'Brien will be against other younger-skewing late-night cable talkers from Comedy Central's two powerhouses. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" grabbed 1.3 million total average viewers and 690,000 in 18-49 for the night, while "The Colbert Report" took in 1.0 million overall viewers and 550,000 in 18-49.

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In a press release, TBS touts an even better-than-expected result -- "Conan" median age for his first show was just 30. This is some 17 years lower than O'Brien's media age when he hosted NBC's "Tonight Show." The number is 10 years younger than the average 50- to 55-year old median age of either the current Leno show or David Letterman.

Overall, many analysts were surprised at the "Conan" results.

"It's an extraordinary number; I couldn't believe it would be that high," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate director of Horizon Media. Still, Adgate believes after the first weeks, O'Brien's numbers will settle down to around 2.6 million overall viewers and around 1.5 million 18-49 viewers.

He also believes O'Brien's median age numbers will move up a bit -- landing around 37 or 38. Last night "Conan" followed TBS' young-skewing Adult Swim programming block, which gave the show an initial younger median age lead-in.

Adgate credits the big TBS promotional push in getting to these levels, which includes continued messaging throughout the Major League Baseball playoffs, a heavy rotation American Express commercial featuring O'Brien, and constant YouTube video executions and Twitter messages.

Looking at TBS' previous late-night efforts -- "Frank TV" and "Lopez Tonight," Adgate says, "The third time is the charm."

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