look for the "Conan won the demo" press release from NBC anytime now...
via CBS release:
FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE WEEK…REBROADCASTS OF "LATE SHOW" TOP ORGINALS OF "THE Tonight Show"
Despite Repeats, “Letterman” in Closest Competitive Position to "Conan" in Adults 18-34
"Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" Also Places First in its Time Period
For the second consecutive week, rebroadcasts of LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN delivered more viewers than originals of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," and finished in its closest ever competitive position in adults 18-34, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Aug. 14.
Rebroadcasts of LATE SHOW delivered a 2.1/05 in households with an average of 2.95m viewers, up +11% in households (from 1.9/04) and +12% in viewers (from 2.64m) compared to the same week last year (also a week of rebroadcasts). LATE SHOW was up +13% in adults 25-54 (0.9/04 from 0.8/03), +25% in adults 18-34 (0.5/02 from 0.4/02) and even in adults 18-49 (0.7/03) compared to the same week last year.
LATE SHOW rebroadcasts beat first-run "The Tonight Show" in households (2.1/05 vs. 1.9/05, +11%) and viewers (2.95m vs. 2.67m, +10%). This week's viewer advantage is 40 times greater than the prior week of rebroadcast (+7,000 viewers). LATE SHOW has now topped "The Tonight Show" in households and viewers for six consecutive weeks.
Even in rebroadcasts, LATE SHOW finished in its closest competitive position to "The Tonight Show" in adults 18-34 (0.5 vs. 0.8, -0.3) since Conan's premiere as host on June 1.
For the fifth consecutive week, LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON beat "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in households (1.1/04 vs. 1.0/04, +10%) and viewers (1.46m vs. 1.36m, +7%). THE LATE LATE SHOW posted a 1.1/04 in households with 1.46m viewers, up +10% in households (from 1.0/03) and +14% in viewers (from 1.28m) compared to the same week last year. LATE LATE SHOW was even in adults 25-54 (0.5/03), adults 18-49 (0.4/03) and adults 18-34 (0.3/02) compared to the same week last year. Note: Due to PGA Highlights, Thursday's and Friday's broadcasts aired with amended titles and are not included in the weekly average.
* * *
FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE WEEK…REBROADCASTS OF "LATE SHOW" TOP ORGINALS OF "THE Tonight Show"
Despite Repeats, “Letterman” in Closest Competitive Position to "Conan"
in Adults 18-34
"Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" Also Places First in its Time Period
For the second consecutive week, rebroadcasts of LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN delivered more viewers than originals of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," and finished in its closest ever competitive position in adults 18-34, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Aug. 14.
Rebroadcasts of LATE SHOW delivered a 2.1/05 in households with an average of 2.95m viewers, up +11% in households (from 1.9/04) and +12% in viewers (from 2.64m) compared to the same week last year (also a week of rebroadcasts). LATE SHOW was up +13% in adults 25-54 (0.9/04 from 0.8/03), +25% in adults 18-34 (0.5/02 from 0.4/02) and even in adults 18-49 (0.7/03) compared to the same week last year.
LATE SHOW rebroadcasts beat first-run "The Tonight Show" in households (2.1/05 vs. 1.9/05, +11%) and viewers (2.95m vs. 2.67m, +10%). This week's viewer advantage is 40 times greater than the prior week of rebroadcast (+7,000 viewers). LATE SHOW has now topped "The Tonight Show" in households and viewers for six consecutive weeks.
Even in rebroadcasts, LATE SHOW finished in its closest competitive position to "The Tonight Show" in adults 18-34 (0.5 vs. 0.8, -0.3) since Conan's premiere as host on June 1.
For the fifth consecutive week, LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON beat "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in households (1.1/04 vs. 1.0/04, +10%) and viewers (1.46m vs. 1.36m, +7%). THE LATE LATE SHOW posted a 1.1/04 in households with 1.46m viewers, up +10% in households (from 1.0/03) and +14% in viewers (from 1.28m) compared to the same week last year. LATE LATE SHOW was even in adults 25-54 (0.5/03), adults 18-49 (0.4/03) and adults 18-34 (0.3/02) compared to the same week last year. Note: Due to PGA Highlights, Thursday's and Friday's broadcasts aired with amended titles and are not included in the weekly average.
* * *
Wow. Letterman got through 2 consecutive weeks in reruns vs. originals, and loses no steam at all. Truly remarkable. What does that say for this week when Conan is in reruns, and for the weeks ahead. Does anyone see any possible change in these results any time in the foreseeable future?
Dave has been in fine form lately! I was a HUGE Conan fan when he was host of “Late Night” but find it almost painful to watch him on “Tonight.” I’m not sure what the difference is. I’ve been watching Dave since 1985 and am rooting for him in this new late night race!
I agree, Dave’s in top form ever since Conan took over. Must be the thrill of having a chance to win? And Conan still doesn’t seem comfortable out there. All the energy is gone and I literally found myself falling asleep watching him, something that not even Leno (who I was not a fan of) didn’t do. Conan’s old show had a much higher energy level, and that was a huge part of what made Conan good. But switching back and forth between him and Letterman, it’s not hard to confuse which one of them is the 62 year old. I think the NBC executives are probably to blame. Starting out shaky at 12:30 is expected, but when you make that transition to 11:30, you’re expected to hit the ground running.
Could it be that they moved Conan to Los Angeles and he was more comfortable in New York?
I’ve hardly ever watched Conan and so I don’t know his style well but so many shows are in LA. I guess they figured if he remained in NY he would compete with Letterman who would have the advantage with the New York guests but now that Leno is going to be on and still in LA shouldn’t it be harder for Conan.
I love Dave and if I am up later I have always watched Craig Ferguson but I can’t help but feel bad for Conan. Maybe it is extended jet lag. I just hope Leno doesn’t hurt Conan more.
In spite of all his experience, Conan simply has not learned how to conduct an interview. He simply can’t keep his eyes off the blue card on his desk. No other late night host does that. I know they have cue cards but they don’t let it show. I would think the guests would find that irritating.
He doesn’t use much material during the monologue because he takes up a lot of time with his cackling laugh. Nobody appreciates Conan’s humor like Conan does.
Does anyone else think that these posters saying, “I loved Conan, now he sucks” or “Conan had the greatest show but not he’s unwatchable on The Tonight Show so I’m switching to Dave” are studio plants or something.
There’s no way in hell someone could have been a hardcore fan of Conan and Late Night and now suddenly think he’s unwatchable. ABSOLUTELY. NO. WAY. Conan, now, is almost no different from old Conan; the writers are the same, the actors are the same, almost everything staff wise is the same. Conan gets to do more ‘on location’ skits than ever before, there’s greater access to props and departments on the Universal Studios lot, there’s better production values, better guests, FAR better musical guests. If Conan had a worse show now his ratings now would be worse than they were then. Plus, Conan has always had a very genre-specific style so how could someone switch from that to Dave who is not a bit the same?
I don’t believe for one single second that these people saying they loooved Late Night with Conan O’Brien but can’t stand The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien are legit. I feel like I’m reading product reviews on Amazon.com with this crap.
Johnny,
How do we know you’re not a shill for NBC?
I think Conan is doing pretty much the best show he was going to pull of without completely changing his personality. In the long run after Letterman steps down he will be number one. That said Letterman has been on fire all year, the show has a lot more life to it and you can definately see the effort is there that really hasn’t been this kind of spark since the glory days of 1993-94. Conan is doing a great show, and hopefully NBC doesn’t do anything stupid. The comparison between Leno and Conan is like comparing “Two and a Half Men” and “The Office,” one is tolerable and funny, and the other is hip and hilarious.
Wow, Johnny, I don’t know why being a fan of the Conan Late Night and not liking the Conan Tonight would make someone a shill. I liked the former quite a bit, and find the latter completely lacking. Conan seems uncomfortable, the humor is completely watered down, the set is way too big and eats up the energy… I could go on and on, but it just is not working yet as a complete package. Conan could bring as many elements as he would like from NY, but they all are experienced at doing a more cutting edge, 12:35 show.
But if Conan is doing so great, what explains his ratings? At this point, Conan is bleeding viewers who used to watch him on Late Night. Are all this former viewers just shills for CBS?
Scott Jensen:
NBC sucks!… How’s that?
Obviously I wasn’t being literal. My point is: I think people are treating the new Conan show the way they are treating the new AVATAR trailer; they expected so much that now that they get what couldn’t possibly live up to their expectations they are over-reacting. Conan is barely different than he used to be. The only tangibly critique I’m hearing is that Conan is uncomfortable and awkward in the new big set. As someone who watched Conan a couple times (or more) a week for over ten years I believe I can make an accurate assessment of his performance and I have to say that there is barely any difference in the man Conan himself.
Conan even announced, quite blatantly and emotionally, that he absolutely was not go to change his style to appease the L.A./11:35/Leno crowd – and he hasn’t. His style is obviously not the sweeping level of status-quo that is usually in that time slot so it’s understandable that the older crowd, who enjoyed Leno, would switch over to Dave when Leno left. How anyone could not see that coming is beyond me. I still need to see average ratings for Late Night with Conan O’Brien compared to The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, though.
I have nothing against Dave or Leno either. In fact I probably watched Leno nearly as much as Conan (watched one then the other). I never really got the appeal of Dave’s show but I have nothing against it (I’m not calling for Dave’s removal from T.V.) – it certainly had the upper hand of having the consistently best guest lineup – but the worst house band, the insufferable Paul Shaffer, Dave wasting as much time with his awkward pauses and general ramblings as Conan does with his crazy antics, the interviews being weird and very often awkward, the monologue being more repetitive than Leno’s and far shorter, skits more non-sequitur and badly acted than skits on Kimmel, etc, all add up to a big “?” for the appeal to me.
I also find it quite curious that entertainment geeks (aka, us) are always the first to dismiss something’s popularity with the cliche, “The general public is dumb and that’s why “X” show (or “X” movie) is number one” unless it’s their show that is number one – then it’s because it’s the better quality show.
Have always loved Conan.
The new show is great.
Only thing I don’t like is the reruns and the art deco wave pattern behind him that cuts through his neck during the monologue .. heh
Finally! People are realizing that Conan and Jimmy are terrible. Conan wasn’t ready for the Tonight Show, and Jimmy is just bland and boring. I really miss Leno.
Johnny–I said that and I am not a plant. It’s the truth. I used to watch Dave and then flip to Conan–but I now see that CBS has the perfect combo with Dave and Craig. They are so different and compliment each other so well. I thought that, like D. Letterman in HIS earlier years, was very creative and innovative in the kinds of physical and quirky comedy he offered; he showed a comfort level and confidence that I do not see now. Hopefully that will change as he settles into his new job.
Johnny, I can assure you I’m no agent for CBS or ABC or anyone else, and I definitely think there’s a distinct difference in the quality of Conan’s old show and his new one. Now maybe it’s actually just that I subconsciously expect more of an 11:30 show than a 12:30 one, but I doubt that’s the case as I know exactly what has Conan putting me to sleep in his new show. He totally lacks the presence and the confidence he used to have. It should be obvious to anyone watching. He projects his voice a lot less than he used to, which doesn’t work when you consider that his studio is MUCH bigger. Where he used to speak loudly (which is a good thing for a performer so long as it doesn’t cross into the obnoxiously loud area) and be prone to outbursts, he now speaks a lot lower which has taken all the energy out of his monologues.
His remotes, which have always been the highlight of his show, have begun to seem a lot less creative. Oddly a lot of them have had him heading into stores recently, which is not a problem, but then he seems to have less funny things to say lately and the remote where he met Wing Pang (spelling?) really sticks out in my mind. Though it had its moments, I cringed when he started making fun of Wing Pang. He seemed to be forcing it, making fun of things that really didn’t deserve to make fun of. It really does feel to me like the (unjustified) pressure has gotten to him and he’s become a lot less confident in himself and his ideas.
Again, I don’t work for any television network, and you’re crazy if you really think any network would send shills to this website for that. Besides, that’s only an effective strategy when you praise your own product, not when you trash the competition. Almost everyone coming to these articles already watches late night, and trashing the other network’s show is not going to convince anyone who already watches to stop. If anything, it might convince people to watch that show just to see if it’s really as bad as they say. Now if CBS made a bunch of comments saying “OMG Letterman is SOO funny lately, no wonder he’s winning, he has me dying with laughter every night!”, that MIGHT convince a couple people to check out Letterman for themselves.