DVR playback crowns Conan O'Brien king with young-adult viewers

Has the DVR made Conan king?

You may recall that Jay Leno took back his old "Tonight Show" perch on NBC from Conan O'Brien last year. O'Brien started a rival show on TBS. Since then, Leno has settled into a big lead over O'Brien in total viewers as well as a very narrow lead among adults ages 18 to 49, the demographic most advertisers care about.

But that's only counting people who watch the programs live. And it just so happens that O'Brien's fans are big-time DVR users.

Once playback is factored in, O'Brien takes the No. 1 spot in 18-49. During November and December, O'Brien averaged 1.4 million viewers ages 18 to 49, compared with 1.3 million for Leno, 1.1 million for CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and 1 million for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

O'Brien has an even bigger lead among adults 18 to 34, with an average of 930,000 viewers. Runner-up Jon Stewart had only 574,000.

As TBS noted in a release late Tuesday, "'Conan' receives a far bigger lift from time-shifted viewing than broadcast shows, which is a reflection of the young fan base that O'Brien attracts."

The median age of the "Conan" viewer is 33. It's 42 for "Daily Show" and 52 for ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Letterman and Leno attract the oldest viewers among late-night talk shows: Each has a median age of 56.

-Scott Collins (Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT)

Photo: Conan O'Brien. Credit: Art Streiber/TBS

Comments

[Jorge Huaman]

I only watch Conan on my DVR and I've seen every show since its premier on TBS. I'm 29 and I've been a huge fan of Conan since his premier on NBC's Late Night back in 1993 (I was about 11 at the time). I think it's important to note that for DirecTV viewers in the West Coast, we get Conan at 8PM on TBS. Because of this, I think most young people who want to enjoy late night talk, will watch it on their DVR around 11PM or before going to bed.

[KarenJ]

No mention of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson?? What - he didn't fit in the line-up at all?

My hours don't allow me to watch late night TV live. I DVR both Conan and Craig.

[Miffy]

Somehow, I think NBC will be happy with the viewers who actually *don't* fast-forward through ads.

It's amazing that whenever Conan has success in the most silly of metrics, the media is all over it. Yet, Jay has been beating him for the last two months, and not even a peep about that story. Or the fact that Conan's ratings have been slowly but steadily declining since his debut.

[As I See It]

Conan's numbers are inflated because they include his debut week. They been on steady decline ever since. He has lost 84% of the 18 to 49 demographic since his debut.

Please note this is a TBS release with accompanying spin.

[Ryan]

I bet if online streaming was factored in, Conan would have a huge lead over Leno. I never understood why the ratings gloss over the ever-growing niche of young users who exclusively watch television shows on their computers, never on a television. Undoubtedly, Conan has way more streaming viewers than Leno does, and that should be counted in the tally. Traditional Nielsen ratings are as outdated as land-line telephone political polls.

[alexander]

Hey everyone, a BIG hand to Jay's parent's, miffy and as I see it Leno. They're either his parent's or the mechanics who work on his obsessive car collection. Now, let's let the folks who actually appreciate genuine humor go back to discussing those with REAL talent... Conan.

[Lakawak]

So...Conan had those numbers in November and December...but take away his first week (which was an obvious anomaly due to his first week being back) and those numbers are MUCH lower. Even when factoring in DVR, Conan's numbers in the key demographic dip below Leno.

Advertisers are not stupid. They re NOT going to base their rates on that first week which they know will never happen again. So they will only focus on the fact that since the middle of his second week, Conan has only been getting about 1.2 million viewers in that key demographic.

[JKFan]

I love when people have to come up with ways to make Conan's numbers look better. Or when someone will blast the Nielsen ratings to justify a show that THEY like. Guess what? Advertisers are far smarter than you are...andhave actual DATA to make their decisions. And they know that when they advertise on a show with higher Nielsen ratings, that their sales increase by more than when they advertise on a show with a lesser Nielsen rating. Why? Becuase it IS statistucally a good measure. Just becuase you don't LIKe the outcome does not mean you can call the field of mathematics and statistics wrong. As for online viewing...you are just GUESSING that more poeple watch online. And even if they did..who cares. TV is a business. Period. The bottom line is, Leno's show ios far more profitable than Conan's. No one cares wat show you like. And no...it does not make you superior to those who like other shows. Get over yourselves.

[Karl Ammann]

I guess I should feel lucky that I don't know what a DVR is. What is a DVR? Sounding like an Andy Rooney curmudgeon, Don't you just hate it when some widely hyped article talks about something that it does NOT define? Well, I do, and I wonder what in the world is wrong with the writer(s) who may not even know what a DVR is for themselves. Just once I would I love to get a job directing the writing for major media, and do major media writing myself, and be the first writer and chief publishing officer to define what the article is talking about. What a novel concept - civilized, non-obnoxious writing for the masses.

[Lee]

We have been faithfully DVRing Conan for years. Love Conan, have always appreciated his sharp wit and absurd, silly sense of humor. Tonight Show detour was unfortunate, but TBS show is on its way to recapturing the greatness of his late night show.

[Tony]

Is it now journalism to simply reprint a TBS press release? The L.A. Times has increasingly low standards......

[Violet]

I don't even have cable, but I watch Conan faithfully, online, the following day. Where do I factor in? Or do I?