I like Conan, but I’m actually surprised that he’s been on the air as long as he has. He’s a “love-him-or-hate-him” comedian, and the pattern that I’ve noticed is that well-educated people tend to like his style of humor, and the rest don’t (I find this strange, as Conan’s humor isn’t necessarily what I’d call “high-brow”). Unfortunately, in this country, the economics of broadcast media dictate that playing to the intellectuals is a losing strategy.
Since NBC will likely sideline him for three years or so, he needs to do the logical thing: parlay his immense support on the Internet into an online show. The short segments that make up an hour-long episode in the late-night format would translate very well into Hulu-style clips.
Rather than tuning in for entire episodes, most people (I think) watch the late-night shows for individual pieces anyway: the monologue, Jay’s Headlines, Dave’s Top 10, an interview with your favorite actor/actress, the musical guest, etc. By acknowledging this reality and transforming the late-night show from a monolithic hour block into small, potentially viral videos, he could do a lot more damage than he could by simply moving to FOX.
