Conan O’Brien Goes Out On Top

The ratings for the final The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien were huge as it drew a 4.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic. To put that in perspective it was the highest rated program on all of TV Friday, though that isn’t completely surprising given that Friday is generally weak in primetime and the Haiti telethon took over all the networks. However that 4.8 is by far higher than anything NBC has put on the air in primetime lately other than The Biggest Loser which came close with a 4.7 earlier this week.

Some outlets were expecting a much lower number given that late night shows on dip on Fridays especially in the younger demo. This goes to show the commitment that the Conan fans have given how they stayed home on a Friday night to watch it. Those fans have held rallies and created a wave of support online and that momentum will only help as prospective networks analyze the possibility of launching his new show.

Because of the deal reached with NBC it won’t be until at least September 1st that Conan could start a talk show on a different network. Until then he can appear as a guest on TV shows however can not be interviewed. I suspect he will probably do something online to keep himself in the public eye until September or maybe show up as something like a guest judge on American Idol (if Fox ends up as his destination).