Good article in Broadcasting & Cable mirroring my thoughts on the current hubbub over the Conan vs. Dave numbers. It's the top of the first inning between these two guys, draw no conclusions about the ultimate outcome. I particularly like the last line of the excerpt below. 
It's amazing what happened last week in Universal City when David Letterman's ratings eclipsed those of Conan O'Brien for the first time on the night of June 9. According to my well-placed late-night moles, to say NBC went into unabated panic mode is an incredible understatement.
The morning after being honored at a big dinner in New York, Jeff Zucker jumped on a flight to Los Angeles for an emergency confab. He did so on the orders of General Electric chief Jeffrey Immelt, who hustled to Los Angeles as well. Marc Graboff even escaped from agents trying to do personal harm unto him and attended.
At the meeting, say my sources, everything meant to staunch the bleeding was considered, from immediately returning Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show, to swapping the roles of O'Brien and Today host Matt Lauer going forward. Both of these are part of the already-in-place succession plans NBC has to have under GE mandate.
Ultimately, NBC decided to stick with O'Brien—for this week—and will revisit his role as host on a week-to-week basis.
And if you think any of this is true, you should revisit the place where you apparently got your lobotomy.
read the rest at Broadcasting & Cable.
Ha, I love Ben Grossman.
The way I tell whether a news item is crazy or not is if Nikki Finke is making a big deal about it. And she’s going bananas over this ridiculousness.
LOL
LOL geez, I almost believed all that! haha
Conan started out on a 13 week to 13 week contract. He held on by a thread, Ive been told.
How ridiculous. Remember he had a shaky start with Late Night, gee.. I wonder what happened? Stay the course Conan, Letterman can’t tick off Sarah Palin every night.
Apparently, some commenters were unable to get all the way to the last line of the excerpt.
Clearly he hasn’t work to do. He could be fired and money saved.
So does anyone know how Conan did last night?
If you don’t think there’s been panic at NBC over Conan’s low ratings, you don’t know anything about the television business.
Conan got a 3.0 on Thursday. Leno averaged a 5.2 in 2008. That means Conan is getting less than 60 percent of what Leno was getting. It’s different than 1993 when Conan was an unknown and built. Conan is a star now, taking over one of the biggest franchises in television.
This is an unmitigated disaster for NBC. The most likely scenario being bandied about is that the “Jay Leno Show” will never happen at 10 if Conan’s ratings continue their plummet, and Leno will be back at 11:30 come September, with Conan remaining at NBC to do specials and a post SNL show half the year.
Ha. Newad, who is bandying about that idea? There is no possible way, under any circumstances (barring Leno dying or something like that), that Leno will not be airing at 10 this fall. Period.
Hi Julia. The Tonight Show is the second biggest money-maker for NBC after the Today show. NBC is already developing a number of hour-long game and reality shows for the 10pm slot as a backup, including special editions of Deal or No Deal.
They are not simply going to permanently accept the idea of the Tonight Show going from #1 with a 5.0 average to a long-term #2 or even 3 with a 3.0 or worse. Conan’s ratings haven’t bottomed yet. Not even close. By the time it settles he could very well be drawing less viewers at 11:30 than he was at 12:30, because the competition at 11:30 is much stronger.
For all you Conan lovers (and I like the guy) to be suggesting that NBC is willing to stick with him forever while they still have Jay under contract is magical thinking.
Call me crazy, but I highly doubt either The Tonight Show or The Today Show make anywhere near as much as, say, The Office, which does well in the ratings and then sells DVDs like hot cakes on top of that. Or Sunday Night Football. Or The Biggest Loser.
I didn’t say anywhere that Conan would be left on indefinitely. But the idea that NBC is going to suddenly decide that they are going to pull Leno from the fall primetime schedule is completely laughable.
Julia, you are potentially crazy, at least as far as the Today Show is concerned. It is an absolute gold mine. The Today show has as much airtime as all of NBC primetime. (it’s 4 hours x 5 days, plus a few hours on Saturday and Sunday) On a per show minute basis, The Office is perhaps more profitable. On a per show basis, there is no comparison.
And I’m sure that Sunday Night Football plus its ancillary programs make money, but I’d bet the profit margin on them isn’t huge. Those rights fees are competitively set, and my guess is that the competition doesn’t allow for a lot of excess profit.
Yeah, I was realized I was thinking on a per minute basis. But doesn’t change the fact that Leno will air at 10.
Bahaha, I’m sure the idiotic commenters that I’ve seen here in the past nearly had an orgasm reading this bullshit. They’re in their own little fantasy world.
Conan is doing great, his ratings will only grow over time after this Letterman/Palin stupidity washes over.
Conan is doing great? Yeah, you’re right, Daniel, he’s doing great if you’re Les Moonves. But if you’re Jeff Zucker, you’ve got a disaster on your hands and you know it.
On what planet is getting 60 percent of the ratings the guy you replaced got, and coming in second when the guy you replaced was first, great?
There is not a single measure by which the guy is doing great. He’s not even doing well, yet alone great. He’s in trouble and at risk of cancelation. Take a look at his bookings for next week. He’s got such a stench of failure around him that the celebrities are fleeing like rats.
Monday’s main guest is Joe Torre. Nuff said. Stick a fork in Conan, he’s done.
Dear Julia,
What’s “laughable” is your knowledge of the television business. You think “The Office” is more profitable than the Today show? That’s one of the most ignorant comments I’ve ever heard anyone say about television, period.
You will never live that down.
Newad…
If you want to call it a failure…then that’s fine…but it really shows you are the one that knows nothing about TV….Conan’s numbers will live and die by the 18 – 49 demo…if he starts losing in that area then go ahead and call it a failure…because that’s where the money is made…and trust me…he’s bringing in viewers that didn’t’ watch the tonight show before…can’t wait to see what happens a few years down the road when he builds a new audience.
I like dave too, but conan is much better at what he does.