Conan's First Show Back Sees 'Strong' Ratings

Conan O'Brien's late-night debut on TBS Monday night drew 4.16 million viewers, beating Jay Leno on NBC and David Letterman on CBS. "That's a strong number," Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at the advertising company Horizon Media, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg. "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" was seen by 3.47 million viewers and "Late Show with David Letterman" attracted 3.39 million, TBS said today in an e-mailed statement, citing preliminary Nielsen data. O'Brien was replaced by Jay Leno on NBC earlier this year in a very-public firing. O'Brien hasn't lost his comedic touch, however. "Welcome to my second annual first show,' O'Brien said. "People asked why I named the show 'Conan.' It's so I'd be harder to replace." According to a Bloomberg report, "TBS used its September coverage of Major League baseball playoffs to promote O'Brien, 47. The network ran TV commercials featuring the John Waite song “Missing You” and floated an orange Conan-TBS-branded blimp during the games. The network created a Facebook page, a YouTube Channel and 24-hour Coco Cam that provided live video of O'Brien's preparations." Shares of TBS parent Time Warner

are up 1.08%, to $31.86.