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News August 16, 2018

New ‘Conan’ format to drop regular music performances, huge blow to touring Aussie artists

Staff Writer
New ‘Conan’ format to drop regular music performances, huge blow to touring Aussie artists

Conan O’Brien’s US late night TV show Conan is cutting regular music performances out when it moves to a shorter half-hour format in 2019 to be “more lean and agile.”

This is a blow, not only to music fans who were exposed to some radical acts – recent appearances included Neko Case, Andrew W.K., Natalie Prass and Tune-Yards – but for touring Australian acts who were often given a helping hand.

Artists appearing on the show would find a 50% increase in iTunes album sales and Facebook fans, and a 40% increase in traffic to their website.

Of all the late night TV talk shows, Conan has the younger audience and he is the longest running host.

A few years ago, late night shows as Saturday Night Live, Conan, Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Call with Carson Daly were booking 400 acts a week.

A report found that artists playing on Saturday Night Live saw a 300% jump in the next 24 hours to their Wikipedia page, Conan triggered a 175% rise while it was 130% for Letterman.

Carson Dal was a distant last with 30%.

The effect on iTunes sales data was 100% up after SNL, while Conan, Letterman and Fallon were above 40%.

Conan’s producer and booker of 20 years, Roey Hershkovitz, will leave the role next year but may remain as a consultant on future special music projects.

In May, when O’Brien first announced the format change, he said it would work better with its online content.

“It gives us the opportunity to double down on stuff we’re doing that works best and resonates with our fan base,” he said, “especially our digital stuff, and make the show leaner so I’m never out there filling time in any way.”

Conan is not shown in Australia at present but has been on GEM and GO!

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