Conan O'Brien: Let the man do his thing (or NBC, Let Him Be!)

I assume by now that you've heard about the Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, NBC time-slot debacle, but if you haven't, here's a fine article on it from ABC news: (link)

I'd just like to ask a question: Why the grief, NBC? I can understand attempting to keep a personality who has a marketable (and solid) draw in a certain economic sector of the network's viewing public. That makes sense. However, Jay's previous show has such horrid ratings that it's confusing as to whether the audience that responds to him is even viewing him anymore. Or perhaps the audience is much smaller than anticipated.

That being said, Conan O'Brien has had a steady career in a time slot usually viewed by a younger crowd, many of his fans having aged with him through his career as a writer and host. He has a very dedicated audience who continue consume his output hungrily. With only seven months under his belt at the helm of the Tonight Show, his residency has only just begun and it's a shame to see it be in danger of getting cut short.

The ratings for The Tonight Show experienced a dramatic increase yesterday night (a 1.7/7 up from a 1.2 the night before (link)) as viewers flocked to television sets to support Conan and The Tonight Show franchise in an apparent effort to send a message to the network. Hopefully this message works, but it may require a shift in consistent viewing habits of a demographic that is able to have content delivered in ways that are not included in Nielsen ratings. Perhaps the section of Conan's audience that consumes it's media with less traditional means (such as delivered over the net from websites like Hulu or downloaded from bit-torrent sites) is small enough to be considered statistically negligible for now but the further development of technology and ideas about media consumption could cause problems for decisions made by NBC if based strictly on Nielsen numbers.

I'm just sayin, is all.

I personally would like to see Conan get a fair shake of the deal by being allowed to continue his tenure at The Tonight Show and build a faithful following over-the-air. And while we all may have a great amount of respect for Jay Leno, perhaps it is time for him to step aside for awhile and allow the growth of another personality that can be adored by the United State and the world.

Rock the boat, Conan. (Don't tip the boat over)

-Nate Bellon(bass)

A short aside: Here's some interesting information on how Nielsen ratings operate, as well as a decent history on the Nielsen ratings empire. (link)

-NB