While Conan’s move from NBC to basic cable hasn’t been a massive success — the show’s ratings are generally near the bottom of all major late night shows — it’s been on an upswing lately, at least according to TBS. In fact, the Conan audience grew by a generous 25% this quarter, helping deliver six consecutive months of improving growth in the coveted 18-49 demographic. TBS also claims that the audience’s median age of 35 is the lowest of all late night talk shows, but it doesn’t mention The Daily Show or The Colbert Report in its comparisons. Sure, anybody can beat Jay Leno’s geriatric audience, but Coco’s real competitors are the Comedy Central boys. They’re the ones mopping the floor with everyone in terms of a young audience, and that’s the exact audience Conan guns for as well. But I’m certainly happy to see Conan doing better than it was — it may be a battle on cable in the 11pm hour, but it’s a battle I’m happy to see go on for a long time, with no clear winner in sight. And with Coco’s recent renewal, hopefully they can stress a little less about ratings over there for a while.
