Uploaded June 2009 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Conan O'Brien has reason to smile after his debut as "Tonight" show host. His first Nielsen Media Research report card showed a 7.1 rating and 17 audience share in the nation's biggest media markets. Those numbers indicate more people checked out O'Brien's show out than watched David Letterman's "Late Show" on CBS and ABC's "Nightline" combined.
"We were very happy," said O'Brien's boss, Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Movie Studios.
The trick is the second night, and the third — and the hundreds more likely to come.
O'Brien set himself apart early from predecessor Jay Leno with his reliance on taped comedy bits, but that approach drew some mixed reviews from the critics.
"I just wish O'Brien had shown more nerve on his opening night," said David Zurawik, The (Baltimore) Sun TV critic.
O'Brien's Nielsen numbers were 19 percent lower than Leno's farewell Friday night, which had an 8.8 rating and 20 share. History suggests goodbyes draw more interest than hellos, even if Leno's exit is only temporary. (He hosts a prime-time weeknight show starting in September.) Leno drew more than 16 million viewers to his 1993 debut replacing Johnny Carson; Carson's farewell was seen by 41 million people.
A typical "Tonight" show this season had a 4.0 rating. Each ratings point represents 1 percent of the nation's homes with TV, which means 7 percent of homes had someone watching O'Brien on NBC. The audience share is the percentage of televisions on at a given time; 17 percent were tuned to O'Brien.
Conan O'Brien has reason to smile after his debut as "Tonight" show host. His first Nielsen Media Research report card showed a 7.1 rating and 17 audience share in the nation's biggest media markets. Those numbers indicate more people checked out O'Brien's show out than watched David Letterman's "Late Show" on CBS and ABC's "Nightline" combined.
"We were very happy," said O'Brien's boss, Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Movie Studios.
The trick is the second night, and the third — and the hundreds more likely to come.
O'Brien set himself apart early from predecessor Jay Leno with his reliance on taped comedy bits, but that approach drew some mixed reviews from the critics.
"I just wish O'Brien had shown more nerve on his opening night," said David Zurawik, The (Baltimore) Sun TV critic.
O'Brien's Nielsen numbers were 19 percent lower than Leno's farewell Friday night, which had an 8.8 rating and 20 share. History suggests goodbyes draw more interest than hellos, even if Leno's exit is only temporary. (He hosts a prime-time weeknight show starting in September.) Leno drew more than 16 million viewers to his 1993 debut replacing Johnny Carson; Carson's farewell was seen by 41 million people.
A typical "Tonight" show this season had a 4.0 rating. Each ratings point represents 1 percent of the nation's homes with TV, which means 7 percent of homes had someone watching O'Brien on NBC. The audience share is the percentage of televisions on at a given time; 17 percent were tuned to O'Brien.
