I like Michael Phelps. Maybe that will help O'Brien. Phelps is a good athlete, I wish I could swim like him. He just set that record, I am glad to see him back.

Conan is such a lightweight...also I think late night chat could be on the wane....this is the TV age of conflict and controversy....only way to improve ratings?....could be....and who's fault is that?...(another topic another day)....all the best Dave.

Ray.

David, I've been a loyal "Nightline" viewer going back to the Ted Koppel era, starting, I believe w/ ABC News's coverage of the unfolding U.S. hostage crisis in Tehran in 1979, and find all three current anchors, Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Martin Bashir, knowledgeable, telegenic (mildly so), and most credible in their roles as the current public faces and voices of "Nightline".

I believe their most recent eclipsing in the ratings (w/ the choice viewing demographic), of both CBS's "The Late Show w/ David Letterman" and Conan O'Brien's "Tonight" show on NBC, and "Nightline's" consistently competitive run of late, might be explained by an unusually fertile hard-news period over the last couple of months, or so, w/ many T.V. viewers willing to forgo David Letterman's opening 'grumblings', and Conan's wacky, 'slap-schtick' monologue for some intelligent, prescient, breaking news coverage and commentary.

(I'm sure a good chunk of those "Nightline" viewers would flip back to either Letterman, or O'Brien, at the conclusion of the "Nightline" telecast, or the committed ABC loyalist would just grab a quick bite, or attend to Nature's call, and then catch "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at 12:05 AM.)

We've had the tumultuous aftermath of the Iranian election, the arrest and conviction of the pair of U.S. women investigative journalists, Ling and Lee, the tragic crash of the Air France passenger plane into the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil, the travails and ups-and-downs of the U.S. economy w/ the attendant story-lines of rising unemployment numbers, home values in decline, states and major cities falling into insolvency, the malaise of the domestic "Big-3" car manufacturers, not to mention the recent run of unfortunate celebrity deaths, from David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Carl Malden and the coup de grace, "The King of Pop", Michael Jackson.

I would think there is a sizable T.V.-viewing demographic who have had their daily fill of hard-news reportage and commentary, stories often of a negative, downer bent, and look to a little lighter, comedic, familiar fare, a brief escape from harsh realities, that both Letterman and O'Brien are more than capable of providing.

My go-to, favorite late, late Network talk show, prior to Conan moving into the earlier "Tonight"slot, was the cerebral, yet often quite zany transplanted Scot, Craig Ferguson.

If Ferguson was getting a little too predictable w/ his on-camera schtick, or had a guest who I found uninteresting, I would often flip over to Conan's late-night histrionics, and generally dig his physical, self-deprecating style of humor.

His quirky band was also a big part of Conan's late show's overall appeal, whereas Ferguson, ever-complaining about "those cheapskates at CBS" (his bosses), lacks the luxury of a live band.

Ferguson makes up for this deficit by performing regular over-the-top celebrity parodies, and wild mocking skits, which, along w/ his reading fan e-mails has become a staple of his show.

If Conan's "Tonight" show is kind of struggling in the ratings NOW, this early in the game, it will be very interesting to see how Leno's 'new' talk show premiering in September, which will air just prior to Conan's, will impact the pale, towering, carrot-topped comedian.

NBC's daring scheduling move to put Leno directly before Conan could be a masterful programming stoke of genius, or a real faux pas, if Conan's modest ratings start to take a precipitous decline.

Time will tell.

Stay tuned folks.

Ciao, for now,

ALEX

Hi Alex, Thanks for this informed and wide-ranging analysis. Z

Conan O’Brien is very much of a “light weight” for the time slot of the tonight show ….. After all the years of having Leno as the host of the tonight show ,Conan doesn’t have a chance to succeed with all of his cheap shticks on stage …sorry Conan