Conan O'Brien Draws Big First Night on the Job

Conan O'Brien's red pompadour will likely have some extra bounce for Tuesday's "Tonight Show" after his debut received a 7.1 Nielsen rating. As O'Brien ran across the country to make it to his new Universal studio in one of his pre-recorded skits, competitor David Letterman joked that he had run "another one" out of town. Well, Mr. Letterman, it looks like a tough fight still lies ahead.

More people tuned into NBC during the 11:35-12:35 hour than CBS and ABC combined, with an audience share of 17 in the biggest media markets in the nation. The way it works is that one ratings point represents one percent of American homes with a television. Thus, O'Brien attracted seven percent of homes to NBC Monday night. The audience share, then, is the percentage of televisions on at a given time, which means 17 percent went with the new guy. The question is can they keep it up?

The average "Tonight Show" during this season rested at a 4.0 rating. Jay Leno's final night as host of the "Tonight Show" last Friday scored an 8.8 rating. That is 19 percent higher than O'Brien's premiere Monday, but goodbye shows historically draw larger audiences. After replacing Johnny Carson in 1993, Leno's premiere drew 16 million viewers, whereas Carson's finale drew 41 million. However, there were fewer viewing options in 1992 than there are now in the age of cable television and the Internet, making comparisons between the two transition periods pointless.

What to watch for now is where people turn to, or rather who, after the hype and excitement of Leno's departure and O'Brien's arrival fade into the weeks, months and years ahead.