In a perfect example of corporate synergy at work, CNN has been busy hyping the premiere of Conan O’Brien’s new TBS show “Conan” all day today. TBS and CNN are sister networks, both owned by Time Warner and falling under the oversight of Turner Broadcasting.
MSNBC and Fox News are yet to mention the show once, but a TVEyes search shows that the program was mentioned 20 (!!) times today on CNN.
Many of those mentions were on Kyra Phillips’ watch during “CNN Newsroom” this morning. The shilling seemed to agitate her a bit, if a discussion about the show with A.J. Hammer a little after 10:15 AM is any indication:
Phillips: Something we have to talk about tonight. Gee, I wonder why. It’s our sister network. Conan O’Brien, making the big return to late night TV. This was a big coup for us, to get him at TBS. What do you think? What can we expect from his new show? I know you will be tuning in.
Hammer: Everybody’s been excited because Conan’s been off late night for so long. I’ll tell you who he has lined up, Seth Rogen, “Glee” ‘s Lea Michele who I absolutely adore, she will be on the show, and more importantly, the lady with the nutcracker museum in Washington state. She’s going to be on the show with Conan and that’s where he really shines. We’re looking forward to his show tonight.
Phillips: We’ll be paying attention. Once again, Conan O’Brien’s new show debuts at 11 p.m. eastern tonight on our sister network, TBS.
In the 4 PM hour, the network even did a live shot outside of O’Brien’s studio at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.