TVSpy
On his show Wednesday night, Conan O’Brien launched his most pointed attack yet on NBC.
With the Winter Olympics just weeks away, O’Brien predicted what the network might do in their expensive coverage of the event; among the predictions were… “Replace the flags on the giant slalom course with breached NBC contracts” and “Move bronze up to Gold’s place, Silver stays where it is, and add a new medal for fourth place called the ‘NBC.'”
And the criticism continued throughout the show as O’Brien’s first guest Ricky Gervais, the host of NBC’s upcoming broadcast of the Golden Globes, joined in on the fun. Of the night’s show, Gervais said, “I’m not even sure if this is going out. I think they’re probably just doing reruns of ‘Leno’ or something.”
One has to wonder if O’Brien’s continued criticism of NBC will have a lasting effect on the network. David Carr of The New York Times points out that O’Brien’s attacks come “at an inopportune moment, because the whole rest of the media apparatus is focusing on deconstructing NBC’s travails.”
Still, NBC’s late-night controversy is producing a precious commodity for the network: ratings. On Tuesday night both “Leno” and the “Tonight Show” saw a big spike in ratings, with O’Brien grabbing a 2.8 household rating.