Sunday, January 17, 2010

Conan's Ratings Surge


This recent news from AP via USA Today isn't surprising, however it sounds like too little too late for Coco. The real question is whether it will affect Jay Leno's ratings upon his return to the time slot:

Conan O'Brien's battle with his network certainly hasn't hurt his ratings. NBC network executives apparently resonating in a country filled with the unemployed, viewership has soared.

O'Brien's ratings have been rising through the week, which was an extraordinary one in late-night television and saw O'Brien and David Letterman hurling barbed remarks at Jay Leno, and Leno firing back.

Tonight ratings Friday were 50% higher than they've been this season, and O'Brien beat CBS' Letterman, according to a preliminary Nielsen Co. estimate based on large markets. In the 18-to-49-year-old demographic that NBC relies on to set advertising prices, O'Brien even beat Leno's prime-time show.

Settlement talks continued Saturday on a deal that would let O'Brien leave NBC and restore Leno to the 11:35 p.m. time slot he occupied for 17 years through last spring.

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