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.
