Conan Premieres to Big Ratings

Conan O’Brien spent much of the last year since departing NBC doing a live tour show and then preparing for his new show on TBS. Conan finally debuted last night and the ratings beat out all its rivals including The Tonight Show. Conan also boosted the ratings of Lopez Tonight which shifted to midnight but got twice the ratings that it had been getting at 11pm.

4.2 million viewers tuned in and the show received a 2.5 rating in the 18-49 demo making the median viewer age 30. The support from the younger crowd is what drove such astonishing ratings in his final weeks at The Tonight Show and followed him all summer through social media and the tour and they showed up for the premiere of Conan. TBS also backed the show with an impressive marketing campaign.