With the just announced Conan O'Brien move to TBS, I thought it might be interesting to note that TBS stacks up quite well among cable networks in primetime among the important adults 18-34 and 18-49 ratings.
TBS was a solid #2 in adults 18-49 to perennial non-sports playoff leader USA, and an even closer #2 among adults 18-34 for the first quarter of 2010. Because some of TBS' late primetime ratings heft comes from Family Guy repeats, I'd guess they're even stronger among the male demographics (that Conan likely favors) than USA, but I don't have the numbers for that gender breakdown.
Update: I just looked at the March, 2010 numbers only (as opposed to the Q1 numbers below), and TBS was #1 in cable primetime for adults 18-34 averaging 599,000 to USA's second place 520,000, and MTV was well behind in third with 387,000.
It looks to me like Conan picked the right cable network for his audience.
For Q1 2010, here were the top 10 cable networks for adults 18-49:
| Net | Adults 18-49 (000) |
| USA | 1,292 |
| TBS | 1,017 |
| TNT | 966 |
| ESPN | 830 |
| AEN | 795 |
| FX | 730 |
| HIST | 713 |
| DISC | 650 |
| FAM | 649 |
| TRU | 602 |
-
For Q1 2010, here were the top 10 cable networks for adults 18-34:
| Net | Adults 18-34 (000) |
| USA | 584 |
| TBS | 577 |
| MTV | 451 |
| TNT | 445 |
| ESPN | 411 |
| FX | 383 |
| AEN | 351 |
| CMDY | 349 |
| FAM | 349 |
| DISC | 312 |
-
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2010 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Yeah, but what are Lopez's numbers?
AEN, what network is that?
In the latest week we have numbers for (3/28-4/1) Lopez Tonight airings ranged between 718,000 and 1.13 million average viewers. No data on adults 18-49.
AEN = A&E
I'm surprised, since I can think of zero TBS shows. Even the Wiki article is unhelpful.
Let's all pray collectively that this will somehow mean death to Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Babs, I don't understand your constant need to bash Kimmel. Conan's new show has nothing to do with Kimmel, and they won't be airing against each other, so I don't see how they're related. If you don't like Kimmel, that's fine, nobody is forcing you to watch. But you have to understand that ABC is perfectly happy with Kimmel's show and its ratings, because they understand that by airing it after Nightline, which is specifically aimed at those people who DON'T watch late-night comedy/talk, it doesn't have a compatible lead in.
I hope they do better promos for Conan than they do for Lopez. To me if a promo doesn't tell me who your guests are going to be that night, it's a waste of time.
It makes sense that Fox didn't want to drop $50 mil into a guy who couldn't beat Leno or Letterman at 11:30. But to put Lopez and Conan together… that's disaster. Two totally different audiences. I can't see the vatos bearing through an hour of Conan to get to Lopez. They'll both be off the air in two years, three tops.
Still on the rag, I see.
DevDog – Nightline IS a compatible lead in given Kimmel's demo, which is older men. (53 yrs old on avg). ABC is NOT happy with the numbers because the show has famously lost money every year. Kimmel is a racist piece of detritus and he ruined his own family by cheating. I'm not just content not tuning in. I want him gone, and will continue to slam him whenever I want/can.
I'm not sure I buy any of the above numbers mattering much. Far more interesting to me is whether Turner will stop programming Family Guy in the 11pm hour Mon-Thur on Adult Swim (also owned by Turner) where it currently beats the snot out of Lopez Tonight with younger viewers.
BTW, Family Guy currently only airs on TBS on Monday nights (though for the entire primetime block between 8pm-11pm), but typically the Family Guy showing on ADSM at 11pm, even on Monday, perform better with the younger audiences than TBS's primetime airings.
Looks like Lopez got screwed again by a pasty white guy. The shit going to hit the fan Tonight.
idk know what type of deal Conan got except that he gets to own his own show, but assuming the price was reasonable this a pretty great move for TBS. Ratings don't even matter all that much here. I'd think the more important thing is what this does for TBS's negotiating leverage for carriage rates. Sure family guy rates well in reruns but that hardly makes them a must-carry channel. Despite the NHL ratings being tiny on Versus, that brand and now UFC still makes it valuable as a channel. Notice then when the Versus was in disputes with DirectTV, the deadline for making things work was always the Stanley Cup playoffs. That's where Versus had leverage. Likewise the Conan brand combined with Tyler Perry and Lopez should be just enough to boost TBS value as must have channel.
So I know some will point to relatively small ratings(compared to Leno) that this was a failure, but then they'll complain on a different thread that all of a sudden their Comcast bill just got a little bit bigger.
Joan: according to TMZ, TBS checked with lopez before making the offer, and then, when conan was approached by TBS, he expressed concerns about screwing lopez over, so he didn't take the deal until lopez himself called conan to tell him it was okay. TMZ is usually pretty credible, as far as internet gossip sites go, so i suspect that this isn't like when leno agreed to retire but didn't really agree to retire.
Lopez is the edgy nothing-to-lose guy Conan used to be.
Conan had better bring some of that old 90's Conan back if he doesn't want to look bad in comparison.
Having to program four nights a week along with not being on network should automatically increase the ability for coco to be much more edgier. The friday off would allow for pre-taping more skits/sketches–which was part of Conan's forte.
Interesting point about Adult Swim Robert. If I remember correctly Adult Swim is being given another hour starting next year (9-10pm). I could easily see them moving King of the Hill to 9-10pm and putting Family Guy on from 10-11pm. Then start their original programming at 11pm, lessening the problem of sister networks fighting over the same audience.
I had hoped that Conan wouldn't go to Fox… but honestly I'd rather see him on Fox than on TBS.
Mostly because I don't get TBS.
Of course, then the sister networks would be competing for the same Family Guy audience Monday nights in primetime.