• by Wayne Friedman , April 12, 2010

In a stunning move, late-night comedy host Conan O'Brien is going to cable network TBS.

O'Brien's show will start in November at 11 p.m., pushing back "Lopez Tonight," the show hosted by comedian George Lopez, to midnight.

In keeping with his somewhat deprecating humor, O'Brien stated: "In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly."

TBS believes the move will gain it younger viewers -- something that started with the "Lopez" show. "Lopez Tonight" has a median-age viewer of 34. It will also make TBS more competitive with late-night talk shows on cable, such as Comedy Central, which has the award-winning "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report."

The heavy betting was that O'Brien would land at Fox. But there were numerous problems that Fox had with its affiliates. Many already had successful syndicated programs in the time slot -- which meant that there was less of a chance for a wide clearance of the show.

Also, executives close to Fox reportedly said the deal would need to make financial sense from the start. But given O'Brien's salary requirements and production needs, this became a problem. Plus, O'Brien wouldn't get to own his own show.

"For decades, late-night TV has been dominated by broadcast television," stated Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. "Now, with a young audience and a growing late-night lineup, TBS is set to be the choice of comedy fans for years to come."