The triumphant return of Conan O’Brien was quite an event last night, wasn’t it? After months and months of a live tour, limited interviews and tweets a-plenty, O’Brien was welcomed by adoring masses on TBS. In the eyes of this Conan fan, he was in top form. The show definitely has a lot of room to grow but Conan seemed more than excited to be back. Plus we got a glimpse at the Masturbating Bear so I’m satisfied.
He’s not the only one excited. According to preliminary numbers, CONAN brought in some monster numbers for TBS last night, getting an estimated 4.2 million viewers. It was the biggest late-night telecast on basic cable ever and the top-rated late-night talk show telecast ever. Dang Coco!
By comparions, last night’s THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO got an estimated 3.5 million viewers and Letterman had 3.4 (THE DAILY SHOW and COLBERT REPORT got 1.3 and 1 million respectively). It’s good to know that there’s a very excited fan base that is loyal to the man. That fan base is much younger than the rest of late-night TV’s. CONAN viewers were a median age of 30, with THE DAILY SHOW’S being 38 and THE TONIGHT SHOW’S being 59. There really is quite a generational gap there.
It’s important to remember that Conan’s new show isn’t all about ratings. He has a strong online presence and, like Stewart and Colbert on Comedy Central, will try to capitalize on viral clips and interviews rather than straight-up viewership. That’s a genius idea and one that takes him out of any competition with the big networks. While late-night network TV may be dying it’s still got some kick left.
So Conan is back with a vengeance. While his numbers won’t always be this strong, this is one hell of a debut.
For those who missed it, here’s the opening segment from last night’s big show:
