Commentary

After 10 Nights Of Conan, Are Late-Night Advertisers Looking For The Joke?

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 15, 2009

Can two weeks' worth of TV ratings for the new late-night wars be enough to alter TV advertisers' minds for the upfront?

In the face of one of the highest profile on-air changeovers in network television, "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" was able to maintain Jay Leno's previous average audience -- at least with those prime young viewers advertisers hold so dear.

Forget about the big 2.3 rating among 18-49 viewers for the first week. If O'Brien continues to post 1.5 rating points among 18-49, where his numbers sank in the second week, it is a clear victory. That's because Letterman is still well behind, with a 0.8 to 0.9 rating in 18-49.

We are not even talking about younger 18-34 viewers -- which O'Brien won more easily than 18-49 viewers, and which many late-night advertisers consider more important.

Even Letterman's spat with Sarah Palin couldn't offer sustaining interest. (Where will all those Palin viewers go now?) All this would seem to suggest that advertisers should make few if any adjustments to their NBC late-night media plans.

The future? Perhaps over time, viewers might sense O'Brien is way more like Letterman then Leno. That would give way to a secret concern of some late-night programming followers: the irony of Leno's disenfranchised viewers going to Letterman.

O'Brien's 1.5 rating among 18-49 viewers should have a familiar ring to it. It is about the rating NBC has been floating to TV advertisers as the number it hopes Leno will do in the 10 p.m. time period, where he will reside five nights a week starting this fall.

Here are the key questions: What will traditional late-night-skewing advertisers like movies, telecoms, video games, and car companies do now? And, how much advertising money can be spread among an earlier Leno, O'Brien and Letterman?

NBC, of course, wants it both ways: Late night and mainstream prime-time advertisers for Leno. Right now O'Brien is holding up his end of the bargain.

Then again, the average temperature this June in Burbank has been 9 degrees lower than a year ago. The summer -- and the heat -- have yet to really begin.

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3 comments about "After 10 Nights Of Conan, Are Late-Night Advertisers Looking For The Joke? ".

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Bryan Cox from Cox Marketing, June 15, 2009 at 1:37 p.m.
Jay was like a pair of comfy slippers. Letterman is like a new pair of comfy slippers, you know they’ll feel great after awhile. Now, NO Jay, so you can bet that David will start the uphill climb in the ratings. Conan on the other hand, seems like a Cartoon Character. That old saying keeps popping to mind whenever I see him on the Tonight Show…”Never hire a boy to do a mans job.”
NBC said that they look forward to Conan grabbing a younger audience. This may be true. But how young? I can see 12 – 20 year olds liking Conan, but how many of them really watch TV at that time of night or watch TV for that matter? Given the fact that young people today are forced to “grow up” at lighting speed, was it a good choice to put Conan in that slot…NO.
Relating this to the big screen, NBC you’ve hired a Cartoon Character to try to fill an Academy Award role.
Bryan Cox
Reply

Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, June 15, 2009 at 1:41 p.m.

Better yet, how many cars, household appliances, ed pills, and higher ticket items are 12 year olds really going to buy?Hello out there in advertising land ?!?!?!?!

Marla Goldstein from Around The Bend Media, June 15, 2009 at 5:29 p.m.

Well, my 19 y/o is a devotee on Conan and has brought me along. I'm a Jay fan and will watch when he's back on in September (depending on what else is on), but I'm enjoying Conan, which I didn't think I was.

Late night needed a shake up. And I wouldn't watch Dave before and I certainly won't watch him now. I never bought the Least Objectionable Programming theory. Especially not now when there are so many other options and so much competitions for viewers' eyeballs.