'Conan' Extended By TBS Through 2014

After a tumultuous few years, Conan O'Brien is settling down at TBS. The network announced Wednesday that they extended "Conan" through April of 2014.

“We are proud to be in business with Conan O'Brien for the long run,” Michael Wright, executive vice president, head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies said in a statement. “Night after night, Conan and his team have put together terrific shows that draw a young and fiercely loyal audience. As if that weren't enough, they have also built a dynamic online presence that keeps fans engaged like no other show in late night.”

O’Brien added, “I am excited to continue my run with TBS because they have been fantastic partners. This means I’ll be taping episodes of CONAN well into the Ron Paul presidency.”

Conan came to TBS in November of 2010 TBS after a 16-year run hosting "Late Night" on NBC. Long considered the heir to the "Tonight Show," he was handed the reigns of the iconic talk show for a mere eight months before the network gave the post back to Jay Leno, citing low ratings.

Facing stiff cable competition from "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" on the late night cable landscape, "Conan" has not been a ratings smash. In the last three months, it's averaged about 1,000,000 viewers per night, according to Nielsen ratings. But the show does well with younger viewers, who are more likely to view the show's content in online.

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Comments

[rotorhead1871]

10:58 PM on 02/24/2012

cone bone is da bomb.....he flails sometimes but he is so NOT leno and letterboy..with their canned vegas routines.....which I am so tired of.....conan is the fresh air of nightime...and he is kinda nuts which makes it fun to watch..

[thereisonlyoneparty]

05:22 PM on 02/24/2012

Conan is funny, but he has no audience.  This is likely because his show is not funny, but I do not know because I have never seen it.

The audience thing is odd considering how everyone was all "Team Coco" when the Tonight Show thing went down.

How does he only have 1 million viewers average?  He has 5 million twitter followers.  Only one in five actually watches his show?  This really shows how useless twitter is.

TBS is wasting money.  Reruns of popular shows could bring in the same numbers and cost a lot less.  Better original programming could serve the network more than Conan's show with its dismal ratings.

[Craig 212]

07:49 AM on 02/25/2012

["How does he only have 1 million viewers average?"]

TBS is a cable network. One million viewers is a lot for a cable network at that time of night.

[Gilbert Albright]

02:48 PM on 02/24/2012

What a waste of money. Those executives should be hung. They could show sitcom reruns in the same time slot and get the same low ratings. Once again no talent Conan is laughing all the way to the bank. He's gonna need that money after 2014 because people are starting to realize what a Chump his is.

[smoothsmitty]

01:38 PM on 02/24/2012

Shoulda kept George Lopez, after they switch the time slot and later kick George Lopez off of late night, my late night tv viewing changed. I could'nt get into Conan, I find him to be a bit to over the top. David Letterman and Jay Leno have their funny moments but not worth staying up to watch but decent enough to dvr'd from time to time . But I'm beginning to get into Jimmy Fallon he's actually keeping it poppin late night like the way Arsenio Hall use to do.

[rotorhead1871]

11:05 PM on 02/24/2012

George was serious funny.....I dont know why his show didnt stay around...+-98569

[Rat Juice]

04:46 PM on 02/23/2012

Its a shame his ratings are low, he is way better than Jay.

http://thetopicalmuse.blogspot.com

[rotorhead1871]

11:04 PM on 02/24/2012

agree...he is way more entertaining....

[kalima1]

04:42 PM on 02/23/2012

i can't help but think that tbs extended conan because they don't have anything better to offer. conan's ratings have been lackluster and dwindling since the show began.

[olddognewtrick]

02:37 PM on 02/24/2012

they could probably get that guy on after Fallon pretty cheap...

[SmallChange]

04:33 PM on 02/23/2012

We love you Conan!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thebirdstheword]

09:41 AM on 02/23/2012

In related news, wgn announced it is signing arsenio hall to a long term contract

[charleyvldm9]

08:52 AM on 02/23/2012

I know TBS, you dont cater to my age group ,over age32.

[dwill123]

08:27 AM on 02/23/2012

I'll bet you $10,000 he doesn't make it to the end of 2013.

[Dave24]

11:23 AM on 02/23/2012

I'll take it.

[thereasonist]

06:23 PM on 02/23/2012

I won't bet against you...his show is pretty bad...

[Montcalms Revenge]

06:23 AM on 02/23/2012

It kinda fits... TBS is a mediocre network so why not keep mediocre talent?

[Steven Paul]

03:12 AM on 02/23/2012

This guy gets a lot of media attention for a very low rated show. His numbers were decent for a Late Late show back on NBC. Than they wonder why he got about the same numbers when he switched to 11:30 and was considered an epic failure at 2.5 million. Now he's on Cable getting 1 million viewers paid 15 million a year, gets in the news all the time, any other comedian would have been cancelled after two low rated shows in a row. This guy isnt that popular and he isnt funny!

[Mools]

10:02 AM on 02/23/2012

I personally disagree and think Conan is hillarious. He has the same self-deprecating humour of Letterman, but instead of coming across as grumpy and old, he is young(er) and nerdier.

What people fail to understand is the importance of demographics over and above ratings. Plenty of shows throughout history have had relatively high ratings and been cancelled while lower rated shows continue for years. Why? Because high ratings aren't as important if those ratings come from old people. TV studios pretty much only care about the 18-39 demographic becuase that demographic brings in by far the most money. This age group is seen as the "spenders" and so this demographic pretty much determines how much you can sell add time for. So when determining whether to continue with a show or not, they don't really care about total ratings so much as the cost of the show, does the network produce it or are they buying the show from some other company, and what are the demographics because demographics will determine how much they can sell ad time for and therefore how much money the can make.

If you look at the breakdowns, shows can have higher ratings and bring in less add revenue than lower rated shows, if the lower rated show is primarily viewed by that prime 18-39 group.

So ratings in technically only one small part of the picture. If a show is relatively expensive to make and only appeals to an older audience, a network may

[sticks n stones]

02:17 PM on 02/23/2012

What you fail to understand is that while demographics are certainly important, so are ratings. Ratings tanked after Conan took over the Tonight Show, which is why NBC asked him to move his time slot.

[Craig 212]

07:54 AM on 02/25/2012

Like so many others commenting here, you are making the mistake of thinking that a cable network can be judged exactly the same as broadcast network.

Broadcast is free. Anyone can watch it, so naturally the ratings required to be considered a successful show are much higher than the standards for a cable show.

One million viewers is a lot for a cable network for that time of night. Contrast Conan with George Lopez, whose talk show was only getting ~500,000 viewers before Conan came along and took his timeslot.

[eugene alkana]

03:07 AM on 02/23/2012

Allright! More Conan to love! My housemates and I watch him religiously, so having heard this after a crappy semester kinda makes my week. Kinda.

[Marc Isaac Potter]

02:49 AM on 02/23/2012

..... good for Conan ....

[crossoverwriter]

11:17 PM on 02/22/2012

Love Conan. So happy to read this!