Conan O'Brien Signs w/ TBS 11PM Comedy: Coco Joins Basic Cable

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Conan O' Brien will leave network television and head to basic cable. O' Brien's deal with FOX did not work out, because of affiliate resistance, and he has signed on with TBS.

His new talk show will debut in November at 11pm. George Lopez sees the greater good in allowing his talk show to be pushed back to midnight. Plus, it's an excellent lead-in.

The move to basic cable is good for O' Brien. Late night on network TV is an old man's game. Jay Leno, David Letterman, and the good people at Nightline get good ratings, but it's the people watching that matter.

Advertisers are interested in the youth market and they pay the bills. And the youth is not watching network TV during the late night hours - or at least not the majority. They are watching basic cable.

Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and the Williams Street staff at Adult Swim are the real rulers of late night. O' Brien, with his fanbase of mostly young people, deserves a spot among this company to become the King of Late Night.

As for TBS, this gives their parent company, Time Warner, the edge on late night. They already have Adult Swim which airs highly successful reruns of Family Guy in addition to popular programs like Robot Chicken.

In 2011, expect them to gain on NBC Universal and Twentieth Century Fox, who could have attempted to sign O' Brien up for FX. Then again, Warner Bros, home to the Looney Tunes, is the perfect place for Coco.