Letterman Repeats Draw More Viewers Than New Conan Shows (Nightline has most)

New York Times ^ | Aug. 13, 2009 | Bill Carter

[OldDeckHand]

Conan O’Brien, while still dominating among the younger viewers that attract the most advertising dollars, added about 300,000 more viewers for new episodes of NBC’s “Tonight” show last week; the bad news was it came against repeats for his main competitor, David Letterman on CBS – and, yes, even in repeats Mr. Letterman still had more people watching.

Barely. The two entertainment hosts essentially tied among total viewers for the week with Mr. Letterman averaging 2.947 million and Mr. O’Brien averaging 2.940 million. That was up significantly for Mr. O’Brien from his previous week, when he attracted 2.6 million.

But it was still significant for a week of repeats of Mr. Letterman’s show to have more viewers than new shows on “Tonight.” That had not happened in more than 14 years

[OldDeckHand]

For what it's worth. Also, in the piece, it mentions...

"The contrast in age was underscored by the stark difference in median audience age. Mr. O’Brien’s audience had a median age of 46.8; Mr. Letterman’s audience was 10 years older at 57."

With those median ages, it doesn't bode well for late-night television in general. Networks continue to hemorrhage viewers, especially the young.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

No big surprise. I just dont thin Conan has that IT factor.

[ETL]

From NewsBusters.org, June 9, 2009...

Seven months after Election Day, and the attacks on Sarah Palin keep coming.

On Monday, CBS's David Letterman on the "Late Show" shamelessly went after the Alaska governor and her family during his opening monologue, as well as in his "Top Ten" list.

Top Ten Highlights Of Sarah Palin's Trip To New York

10. Visited New York landmarks she normally only sees from Alaska

9. Laughed at all the crazy-looking foreigners entering the U.N.

8. Made moose jerky on Rachael Ray

7. Keyed Tina Fey's car

6. After a wink and a nod, ended up with a kilo of crack

5. Made coat out of New York City rat pelts

4. Sat in for Kelly Ripa. Regis couldn't tell the difference.

3. Finally met one of those Jewish people Mel Gibson's always talking about

2. Bought makeup from Bloomingdale's to update her "slutty flight attendant" look

1. Especially enjoyed not appearing on Letterman

"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked-up by Alex Rodriguez."

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/06/09/letterman-attacks-sarah-palins-slutty-flight-attendant-look

*************************************************************************************

At the very bottom of the Late Show with moron/degenerate Letterman website, there is a "Feedback" link for commenting on any given program.

The screen that you'll see will look like this below. You apparently don't need to be a registered member of the site to send comments:

http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/index/php/20090608.phtml#

[9YearLurker]

I agree. I never saw Conan as either particularly funny or particularly appealing—and you’d think he’d really need to be at least one of those.

[Ev Reeman]

I knew that Conan would never be able to hold his won against Letterman.

Leno was great. Still is, and he’s funnier than any late night show host including O’Brien and Letterman.

[RckyRaCoCo]

They both suck...used to defend Conan, but he's turned into an a$$wipe with his constant Palin, Republican bashing...while not touching "the one" and his comrades.

...besides, he and gap-tooth are simply...not funny.

[youturn]

I’ve never seen any appeal to Conan. His name alone is a turn-off.Sorry to all the Conans in the world. I hate my name too, BTW.

[9YearLurker]

Ahh, come on, Youturn kinda has a ring to it. ;-)

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Here's how I look at it.
The Tonight Show has a more mature audience and setting. Conan may be 46 years old, but he still has that late-night, brat-pack feel to him.
So the college students in the 90s who grew up watching him see him now as a sell-out. His hosting the Tonight Show means he and they are both getting older.
Choosing O'Brien as the late-night host was a bad move on NBC's part. They should have offered it to Letterman or groomed another middle-aged comedian to replace Leno. Personally, they should have given it to Rush Limbaugh. He would have been a perfect host not to mention the monster ratings.

[Ev Reeman]

I think they should have given the job to Dennis Miller as host of the Tonight Show. He is edgy and funny, not afraid to be very sarcastic no matter who is the target.

[ETL]

YouTube clips of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. From a time when TV was actually funny.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22johnny+carson%22%22tonight+show%22&search_type=&aq=f

[Soul Seeker]

Maybe it’s time to admit they made a mistake, give Conoan his old slot back and bring Leno back as the host of the Tonight SHow rather than some new variety show.

[gswilder]

Once Leno starts his new show in Sept, TLN with Conan will drop even further. They’ll watch Jay at 10pm, the local news, and off to bed.

Conan is just not funny, and in fact irritating to me. But maybe I am not the demographic they are after!

[Soul Seeker]

I liked Conan once. When the show first started. He went over the line sometimes, but then that was the demo he was targeting. His act has gotten stale the last few years, and now he’s a TS host and stand up was never his strong suit. He was better with his skits but having moved up an hour they are less appropriate for the time slot. Just never made sense they went with him.

Leno wasn’t as good as Johnny, but he grew in the role and by the end I kind of had warmed to him. The TS is mainly about stand up and inoffensive gentle banter with the guests. Jay fit the role better than Conan.

[steve-b]

The latest from Letterman:

"Squeaky Fromme is out of prison. There aren't many jobs for unstable gun-toting women, unless she wants to be Governor of Alaska. I apologize for that joke. Sorry, Squeaky."