Conan O’Brien’s Ratings Tumble In Second Week

November 25, 2010 | Filed under TV | Posted by

As might be expected, the ratings of CONAN at TBS did tumble quite a bit during his second week on the air, much like they did at NBC. Last week the show pulled in big 2.9 million numbers. However, this week the show only averaged 1.7 million viewers. But, the show does pull in the youngest demographic of any late-night talk show with a median age of just 32.

The waiting game is now to see whether CONAN manages to hold an audience or even build new viewers, or whether this will completely mimic the ratings freefall at NBC that helped to end his show at that network. What NBC didn’t like about O’Brien’s performance there was that viewers quickly tired of the show and he failed to hold very much of Jay Leno’s audience on one hand, while also failing to bring high enough numbers of new fans to the time slot. So far, at TBS the early trend rating results are looking pretty similar, but it’s too early to tell whether TBS is satisfied at where things are going at this point in time or not. No doubt the network will give Conan O’Brien more time to make his case than NBC did.

CONAN is testing the patience of TBS in another way as well. He’s pushing the boundaries for profanity at the network, trying out a few choice words to see if he can get away with them. So far it appears that he’s managed to get his way because TBS wants for him to succeed. They have a big investment in the success of the show.

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  • B.E.

    I don’t know why TBS wouldn’t be happy, his ratings are higher then Jon Stewart’s who everybody says is uber-successful.

    • Bradyfan1972

      You aren’t looking at the big picture, nor do you understand the market. Conans ratings are dropping steadily. They need to see where they level out before they can decide if the show is a success or not. However the other point you’re missing is that Conan’s show is exponentially more expensive to produce than Stewart’s, so he needs to generate higher ratings in order to sell more expensive advertising!
      Do you thinkSurvivor costs the same to produce as Mike and Molly? They are different shows, with different ratings expectations.

      Conan’s salary is 12 million dollars a year. There are also dozens of stage hands, there’s a band, a side kick, an announcer, and many other expenses that Stewart’s show doesn’t have.
      Stewart’s salary is 1.5 million per year. Conan’s show needs to garner higher ratings. Do you follow?

      • disastertourism

        Have you seen Conan? You do realize the announcer is the sidekick right? I just thought while you were explaining to people how TV worked I’d help you understand what your missing. I think they probably pay Andy Richter one salary, not twice for doing announcing and side-kicking. Do you understand?

        • John

          uhhhh….that was a useless response.

          • Ian

            that is a useless response john

    • Ei4you

      Right ,,,Why TBS wouldn’t be happy ? Conan spending his Own money form $45 million ,I want to ask Conan how long he will working for wayyyy much less ! maybe $5 Million a year (in this economy with 14 kids) or if he has plan to apply for EI or go back to write Funny monologues for teenagers??? CONONNN please please please you are not a comedy or funny ,,And i don’t think NBC Fired you ,The audence just did not want watch Tonight show because you were not funny as much as you hurt our filling ,$45 million and you cry for a jobbbbbbbbbbb??? just leave the TV alone ,go back to Twitttttt Twittttt and you make million friend a day But the don’t watch you ,,, the way I do it…..

      • fnhaters

        my god I hope English is not your first language. Just kill yourself if it is.

  • Jalar

    I like Conan, and I wish him the best, but he needs to move past the self-conscious, self-referencing tone the show now has and start delivering a full talk show again. Maybe it’s beginning to happen, he started showing impatience last week with the Conan cheers and excessive cat calls from the audience (although he’s always had his cracks about those in the past). But the Conan blimp lingers on and is really getting old, and yeah, we know you like it at TBS. Let’s just say Conan’s now off my DVR scheduler, but if I’m up late I’ll watch him over Leno and Letterman.

  • My roommate and I tuned in his first week and the Monday and Tuesday of the next. We figured that would be enough time for us to decide if he’s worth changing the channel for. Sadly, he’s not. Good luck anyway, Coco.

  • Walkie73

    I am a huge Conan fan but I’ve found the first two weeks of shows boring and predicatable.

    My belief is that Andy Richter is causing Conan to change his style that he mastered on the Late Night Show. The relationship does not work on air.

    I hope Conan figures it out but it’s a very rough start.

  • digiman

    Good to see Andy on the couch.The whole thing feels more comfortable. Good to see some big stars on his show and some audience interaction. I would still like to see a trio of some hot looking ladies doing 3 part harmonies with the band.They could shake it up on the breaks, It would be a great addition to the music acts that want some good harmonies too.
    “The Coco’s”

  • Conan’s ratings are low because I don’t have Directv anymore.

    • Patmikke

      Daniel – you so stuck on yourself you think if YOU watched it would bring ratings up?? He stinks and I think TBS is learning the same thing it didn’t take NBC too long to find out~

      • April48

        He’s joking. Maybe if you understood sarcasm, you’d have an easier time following Conan’s show.

  • Tony

    The negative tone of this article is very obvious. Look, any new show – especially in late night – takes years to build an audience. Conan’s momentum has gotten him off to a great start. Anyone expecting him to get numbers bigger than his Tonight Show ratings on a CABLE channel is absurd. Perhaps after a couple years he’ll be able to do it, but for now TBS is certainly pleased. And so am I… I think the show has been phenomenal. I can’t watch Letterman or Leno anymore. They just don’t seem to be having as much fun as Conan. He is enjoying himself, which makes watching the show enjoyable as well.

    • Firstcapellan

      Do you think TBS is going to give Coco years to built his audience? lol
      He is not a new comer, and his show isn’t that much different than when he was on late late night.
      A couple of years? lol
      If TBS was stupid enough like NBC to give him a guaranteed long term contract, they are really phony, and they will have to pay Coco for not delivering. At the end, it all comes down to economics. the first comment of Bradyfan1972 has it right. plus, TBS may have double the patients than NBC and still, that would not give his show two more years

    • Firstcapellan

      Do you think TBS is going to give Coco years to built his audience? lol
      He is not a new comer, and his show isn’t that much different than when he was on late late night.
      A couple of years? lol
      If TBS was stupid enough like NBC to give him a guaranteed long term contract, they are really phony, and they will have to pay Coco for not delivering. At the end, it all comes down to economics. the first comment of Bradyfan1972 has it right. plus, TBS may have double the patients than NBC and still, that would not give his show two more years

  • rev w

    speaking of enjoying himself – Jimmy Fallon does far better on his show than Conan ever did – stay where you are Coco – I watched you once and you’re still not funny

    • Patmikke

      Well said, Rev

  • Butterfly75

    Jimmy Fallon and Conan are both funny? Where? Conan lost his job on NBC because he was not funny there either. NBC had no choice but to change things around with his low ratings and it wasn’t a personal thing like Conan took it to be.

  • Buckley Reamerson

    I still love me some Conan and Andy. Away with you Coco-haters!

    • Gin

      Go Team Coco!

  • Andybroc

    I think the show’s been great so far. On the down side, he comes across as such a Liberal hater sometimes. Get real, Coco!

  • John88s

    I won’t watch Conan anymore after how he treated Leno and NBC. NBC gave him a great opportunity years ago, and paid him very well for doing a good job – They even booted Leno out of the Tonight Show to give him an opportunity. Unfortunately, he didn’t pull the ratings that needed to be pulled, and they put Leno back in the job. NOT Leno’s fault. The Tonight Show was Leno’s dream. He would have never left it. He could have been a baby and mad about all and said no to go back, but he worked hard for that job, plus it pays much better than no job, so he said yes. Not sure who wouldn’t. Dave and Conan are sore losers. Dave is funny, but couldn’t work with people, and had an attitude problem. Leno is the opposite.

  • Johny D

    Conan has never been funny for the 10:30 pm audience. To that audience he’s like a juvenile that needs to learn to go to the restroom by himself. The way he milked what Leno had to do because he’s an adult that follows and abides by contracts made him show his true colors. He rode the wave of public misunderstanding damaging another person and he didn’t care about it as long as it worked in his benefit. Leno showed true class the way he handled himself after both Conan and Dave kept attacking him. He’s showed everyone how real men behave. I used to like to watch Conan because I’m more of his target audience but after he pulled that stunt I got disillusioned and can’t even stand him anymore now. I sincerely hope he tanks and goes away from television for ever and becomes a long forgotten memory of an ungrateful person that Karma caught up with.

    • Conan525

      sorry, he’s just not funny…

  • Whateverdink

    Leno sucks. He’s always sucked. I don’t have to explain why.

  • Woody

    Did everyone forget Jay sucked at prime time with horrible ratings and would have been out of job if he didn’t oust Conan. Do you really think the reason they brought J back was because Conan was failing! No, it was because J’s ratings sucked. They wanted to move his time slot back an hour and Conan resisted. Unfortunately Conan’s ratings were not good enough too override J getting his old time slot back. J and NBC made a bad move and Conan paid the price! J makes it look like he is so humble when he is a real sleaze. What does he have to be humble about… he didn’t lose anything! If J really wanted to be humble he should have bailed out gracefully when his new show crashed and burned. The reason J needed the tonight show back is he would have never been able to pull off what success Conan has had on tbs. Go Conan! Ratings always dip after the first week. Don’t forget the rating plummet that occurred when J first took over for Johnny.

  • Blah

    Conan hasn’t been funny in years and is, if anything more annoying than ever. I used to like him in the early years but now he really shouldn’t even be on TV. He tries to hard and it shows. It’s almost uncomfortable watching him now.

  • Guest29

    demographics pull tells the whole story. soon, jay and daves audiences will die out and conan will lead the way. conan has the right pull at the right time. jay and dave are just old farts now, with only a few years, who cares if they still lead now? the future is conan.

    • Guest

      do you think conan’s stuff will be funny when you get to be 50? he needs to change… otherwise, he’s just a crying baby who complains about someone took his candy.

  • boston

    Watching conan perform is like watching a bad karaoke singer everyone feels embarrassed for him except for one or two people who thought is was good now everyone else is wondering about those two people, same with conan everyone is embarrassed except for those few people of course were talking millions of viewers so it seems like conan has some kind of legitimate following but when you break down the numbers were back to just a few people…bye conan i see a cancellation before completing a full year.

  • Slb1234

    Conan’s skits are funny but he is a terrible interviewer – it is painful to watch. Playing the victim has gotten really old, hopefully Conan, Kimmel and Letterman will let it go and face the fact that they will never win against Leno.

  • Dwalker1101

    Conan is the worst person to ever be on tv. Please get his face off the tube.

  • MickJayess

    Conan has a lot of energy! I am always amused by his antics. If you like Conan, you always will, but if not, then tune out and watch Jay Leno. Jay is mainstream, and caters too much to that. He adapts better than Conan, but Conan is himself. He is real and you see his personality, kinda like Letterman. Letterman is a bit more humble, which helps him stay near the top. I just like Conan’s energy! He’s never boring… Just a bit Cliche’ at times.

  • Drivingrangejim

    Jimmy Fallon after all these years still looks so uncomfortable on his show..im embarresed for him.And as far as Conan goes..just not fun ny.His comedy is just stupid & childish.Give him a kids show to do-maybe they will think he’s funny.Neither one of these two can even hold a candle to Jimmy Kimmel…down to earth..funny & a good interviewer.Conan..you had your fifteen minutes of fame..now please just go away.