A suddenly very
popular 'Tonight Show'
Ratings soar after Conan O'Brien tells NBC no
By Toni Fitzgerald
Jan 14, 2010
Perhaps NBC should have threatened to move "The Tonight Show" months ago. It's provided a big boost to host Conan O'Brien's ratings.
Tuesday night, hours after O'Brien released a statement in which he refused NBC's offer to move "Tonight" to 12:05 a.m. to make room for Jay Leno, "Tonight" posted its best rating in months, averaging a 1.7 among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen's local people meter market ratings.
"Tonight" trounced CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" by 89 percent, with the latter averaging a 0.9.
Since word leaked last Thursday that NBC was considering a late-night shakeup, "Tonight's" ratings have been rising. The show had been averaging a 1.0 in the LPM markets over recent weeks.
Thursday that increased to a 1.1, and Friday and Monday O'Brien grew to a 1.2.
O'Brien does not seem to be stealing viewers from Letterman; the latter's ratings have remained steady. Rather it looks like O'Brien is bringing in new viewers, likely those who have heard about the showdown between him and NBC and are tuning in just to see what O'Brien has to say about it.
And he's had plenty to say, both in his monologues and in sketches. He hasn't tried to conceal his bitterness toward NBC, nor has he seemed particularly happy with the way Leno has handled the situation.
Tuesday night O'Brien pal Howie Mandel, host of "Deal or No Deal," brought out a bevy of models with briefcases and offered to help O'Brien plot his next career move by picking a case.
The options ranged from joining the cast of "Twilight" as a "rare albino werewolf" to "move to Fox but Seth MacFarlane does my voice." O'Brien's winning choice? "Two tickets to see Jay Leno perform stand-up at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas."
Earlier in the day, O'Brien grabbed the latest set of headlines in the ongoing soap opera, releasing a statement that detailed his reasoning for rejecting NBC's proposed late-night swap.
On Sunday, NBC said it will move "The Jay Leno Show," which airs weeknights at 10 p.m., to 11:35, where he would have a half-hour show.
That would push "Tonight" and its lead-out, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," back 30 minutes. O'Brien said he would not accept that change.
"My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of 'The Tonight Show,'" he said in the statement. "But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction."
NBC and O'Brien are now at an impasse, with the network hoping to get the new schedule hammered out by next month's Winter Olympics.
Tuesday representatives of the two sides were rumored to be meeting, and it could end with O'Brien leaving "Tonight." Until then, he's in the odd position of hosting a show on a network that he's essentially warring with.
And that should help goose his ratings for the next few weeks at least. As late-night shows have proven in the past, there's nothing like a scandal to draw eyeballs.
Letterman moved into first place over the summer after a firestorm over a joke he made about Sarah Palin's daughter, and he solidified his lead last fall after coming clean about his affairs with female staffers.
Nearly two decades ago, a then-struggling Leno moved into first place after securing the first interview with Hugh Grant following his arrest for soliciting a prostitute.
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