Why David Letterman beat Conan O'Brien
And what his ratings win could mean for the future of late-night TV
David Letterman talks with Paul McCartney on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' (CBS Broadcasting Inc.)
"There could be a new king emerging in late-night television," said David Bauder in the Associated Press. David Letterman's CBS Late Show "whipped" NBC's Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien "in the ratings last week by nearly 800,000 viewers." Letterman generally used to lose to The Tonight Show "when Jay Leno was the host, and he hasn't had this big a victory margin since returning from heart surgery in 2000."
This "continues a roll for a resurgent Letterman," said David Zurawik in The Baltimore Sun, "and a troubling downward slide for NBC's Tonight Show since Conan O'Brien took over from Jay Leno." But to be fair, Letterman did have former Beatle Paul McCartney on his show Wednesday (watch), which hauled in an astounding "4.4 million viewers." And Conan is still pulling in more young viewers, which is what advertisers are primarily interested in.
Still, it even "seems like O'Brien's supposed fortress of support within Gen X and Gen Y circles" is "eroding with every passing week," said Mark Graham in New York magazine. But we won't really know how all of this will shake out until "Jay Leno comes back into the NBC fray in mid-September" at the 10 p.m. slot, and "we don't anticipate anyone over at NBC hitting the panic switch and making any rash moves until the end of the year."
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11 Comments
Posted by jhn, Saturday, July 18, 2009, 8:45 pm The fact that Leno won for so long just goes to show that ratings are not connected to quaility in any meaningful way.
Posted by Sophia, Sunday, July 19, 2009, 12:26 am I completely agree with the previous post, which breaks my heart about Conan. Here is a man who is genuinely funny but can't possibly appeal to an older crowd because he can't stoop to the level of making old school jokes and performing riskfree comedy. This latenight battle can only be a good thing for comedy, since it is now a competition between two people who are actually good at their jobs, whereas now before it was a battle between Dave and, well, Jaywalking.
Posted by mary ellen, Monday, July 20, 2009, 9:04 am sorry, but even though i'm one of the old folks who because i happen to be old enough to vote is being dismissed as not smart enough to know funny or entertaining any more, does not enjoy conan. i did watch leno once in awhile and was waiting for conan to take over and give me some tv to watch at night, it hasn't happened. nbc you really blew it this time.the only way this will work is if conan gets a reality check and decides not to insult us old fogies with some real humor and intelligence while hes doing that.
Posted by Sally, Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 6:14 pm I'm old too and I don't find Conan at all amusing. I don't much care for pratfalls and pieintheface comedy. I haven't enjoyed late night since Dick Cavet was tossed for being too smart.
Posted by Natalie Lumet, Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 6:44 pm Conan is a freak and has a strictly cult following. Just look at the guy he obviously just landed from outer space. And he tries too hard. And what's with the Big Band? Leno appealed to the masses as a naturally normal funny guy, offering an unspoken safety in the consistency of his show and material. And his band rocked. Without him, the only other anchor is Letterman, or his drone a sleeping pills, for those who pass out on the couch from his drollness. To many of us, now that Leno is gone, there are none. Click.
Posted by Jeff, Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 10:35 pm Conan O'Brien's show is quality TV ??????????I guess to a 14 year old boy who loves potty humor..his show repsquality. ...of sorts.
Posted by Jennifer Baek, Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:16 am I'm old as well, and I find Conan wonderfully refreshing. I cant say that I would have gravitated to his humor at first, but both my children and grandchildren are fans, and I've come to appreciate his sense of humor. There is no doubt that the humor between David and Conan are vastly different and certainly the late night game is one that is fought over years, not days or months. It'll be fascinating to see what happens as the demographics change.
Posted by Jack White, Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:25 am Jennifer, I'm sorry but you're an idiot. David all the way. He's smart, witty, and at least he has a college education. Thinking that Conan has any sort of relevance is like believing that rap is a legitimate form of music, or that immigrants have any real contributions to make to this country. Irish catholics like Conan need to remember that older folks like myself represent the majority way of thinking, and there's no way that we'll let a ref haired freak like him pass for any kind of success. Letterman represents the best of us.
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