by Henry Schafer
With all of the media coverage given to NBC's fiasco with Conan and Leno, has anyone taken the time to check in with the viewer and their emotions? After all, in the end, isn't viewer satisfaction and devotion to a show critical components for measuring success? The Q Scores company has developed new measures to tap into these important dimensions with our Impact Q Index (core viewer satisfaction) and Emotional Bonding Q Score (commitment to future viewing).
It looks like Conan was beginning to develop strong relationships with the key 18-49 audience, as his show was scoring relatively strong Impact Q and Emotional Bonding levels -- comparable to Letterman. This would seem to be a tough thing to walk away from given the competitive nature of Late Night and, particularly in the face of the audience damage done to Jay Leno via his prime time disaster. Leno's prime time show has received very weak core viewer satisfaction and even weaker viewing commitment -- this will be a very difficult hurdle to overcome.