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Conan O'Brien's last 'Tonight Show' grabs big ratings
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Conan O'Brien left "The Tonight Show" on a high note -- in more ways than one.Not only did Conan welcome three great guests to his show in Steve Carell, Tom Hanks and Neil Young, but he got Will Ferrellto send him off with an off-tune but very fun rendition of "Freebird." Who knew Conan could wail on the guitar like that?
But in addition to all the fanfare and heartfelt speeches, the show brought in monster ratings and the monster ratings carried over into "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."
Late Night Show Ratings:
NBC: "The Tonight Show" 7.0 rating/16 share
NBC: "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" 3.3/10
CBS: "Late Show with David Letterman" 2.5/5
CBS: "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" 1.5/4
ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live" 1.3/4
A ratings point represents about 1.15 million households, or 1% of the estimated 115 million TV homes in the U.S. This means that approximately 8 million viewers tuned in to watch Conan's last broadcast, beating the high-water mark of 7.1 million viewers Conan garnered for his "Tonight Show" premiere.
Conan also won the coveted 18-49 demographic with a 4.8 rating among viewers in that age range. In contrast, Letterman scored a 0.6 in the 18-49 demo.
These numbers are all preliminary. The final numbers for last night will be available. Jan. 28.
Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change. Source: The Nielsen Company.
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Will Ferrell, wife Viveca Paulin send off Conan
Conan O'Brien's final 'Tonight Show' live blog
Photo credit: NBC
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Zucker should have capitalized more on these ratings. Why the rush to get Conan out the door? Whether the previous programming decisions involving these shows were good or bad, anyone with any business sense would have kept this going for another few weeks (at least) with all the interest, excitement and RATINGS that the controversy was bringing. How selfish to want Conan out because of a few insults every night. Network execs need to have a thick skin, and remember business comes before personal. Leno wasn't even gonna be ready to return to "Tonight" until March. There was absoluely no excuse not to keep this ratings bonanza for at least another few weeks.
Some kid got Conan to sign a jay leno headshot and hes selling it on ebay. You can see it on mslinx.com/conan-index
Agreed - Zucker has shown his stupidly many times in the past year, but rushing Conan out so fast was just plain moronic. Last week was the best week in late night television in a decade, with NBC getting the ratings and money from it. A good businessman would have been taking the time to figure out how best to capitalize on it. A loser makes business decisions based on fear of bad publicity.
NBC would have left Conan on the show, but it was Conan's decision to leave last night, just like it was his decision to leave The Tonight Show altogether and give it back to Jay. For which the JL fans say "Thank You!.
Conan will be back - - may be 7 mos., but he'll be back. It's good he cut ties with NBC since they don't seem to know what they're doing.
Have to agree with the first comment! But if NBC was good at commerce, would they be in this mess?
Im glad hes off NBC because NBC blows. He deserves somebody that will back him longer than 7 months. He did the right thing by leaving and not making The Tonight Show a mockery.
Uh, Andrea?
Die-hard Coco fans knew he could wail. He busted out his guitar chops several times over his career at NBC.
Notably, the Adrenaline-Rockabilly number he did on his show during the writers' strike a couple of years ago.
Also, to fill airtime during the strike he took his camera around the offices and while some staff were playing Guitar Hero, he brought in his real guitar and showed 'em how it's done.
Conan should rightfully still be the host of The Tonight Show, and as for Winter's comment that he left by his own choice, that is bull. NBC forced him out by giving him a choice of either leaving, or starting The Tonight Show a half hour later than it has aired for its entire run thus far. Conan did the noble thing by refusing to move the show to 12:05, since such a move would result in decreased ratings for the show, and he didn't want to be blamed for that (and NBC would've blamed HIM for it)!
NBC is responsible for this mess by not showing Leno the door when his time was up, and for giving him a primetime show that decreased the viewership for its affiliates' 11pm newscasts, thereby giving Conan weaker ratings. Conan's ratings would've been higher the last few months if NBC still had dramas like ER and Law & Order at 10 pm, but Jeff Zucker is too dumb to find new hits. I refuse to watch Leno ever again, and I'm boycotting NBC as well. I have no respect for Leno or
Zucker, and I hope Leno's ratings are terrible when he returns. Compared to Conan, he is talentless and has worn out his welcome.
I am sure that there is better in store for Conan O'Brien. Its really a pity that his dream job only lasted a few months.