Time Warner's New Late Night Initiative 'Full Frontal' Sees Solid Debut

Conan O'Brien's new late-night neighbor got off to a warm welcome Monday night, as Samantha Bee's "Full Frontal" saw solid viewership in its debut outing.

The new weekly series, in the same vein as Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and HBO's "Last Week Tonight," saw about 2 million viewers check in during its premiere. In total it was 2.16 million collected across Time Warner Inc TWX's networks (Adult Swim, TBS, TNT and TruTV), with 1.22 million of those coming from the key 18–49 demo.

Related Link: Super Bowl 50 Slips Year-To-Year In Ratings, "Colbert" And "Corden" Hit Highs

Optimism Going Forward

The key numbers for investors to look at is how it did on the TBS vertical, which is where it will air every week and serve as the lead-in for "Conan." On the network alone, "Full Frontal" pulled in 629,000 viewers with 355,000 coming from the key demo. In both cases, that is second only to Adult Swim, which saw 986,000 viewers and 570,000 in the key age range.

Fronted by former "Daily Show" correspondent Samantha Bee, the series brings a strong and smart female perspective to the late night wars. The series will need time to find its footing as next week's episode, the first to air solely on TBS, will go head-to-head with the Grammys. Yet after garnering strong viewership numbers and a solid showing with critics, investors should be optimistic the show can eventually keep and grow a following.