Howard Stern says things are about to get even worse for talk show pariah Conan O'Brien.
While reviewing O'Brien's abysmal ratings for his late night TBS talk show this week, Howard Stern projected that the carrot-topped comedian is in for an even bigger humiliation than his 2010 ouster from The Tonight Show just months after he landed the job.
Photos: 40 celebrities who love Howard Stern
An article recently posted on TVWeek.com announced a new approach for TBS to try to turn Conan's flailing late night gig into a profitable enterprise.
"This is an interesting spin," said Stern reading from the article on Wednesday. "‘Conan’s ratings are down, but he’s huge online. Turner’s New Pitch to Advertisers Touts Late Night Host’s Web Popularity.’ That means he’s probably about three months away from being fired…This sounds like a Hail Mary last ditch attempt. There’s no hope…It just reminds me of when we were at NBC and Soupy [Sales] had his show and Soupy would get on and go ‘We’re number one in the cars!’…Like, maybe some guy at NBC said to him: ‘Don’t worry Soupy! You’re number one in the cars!’ trying to give him a pep talk or something—and then they cancelled him. They fired him.”
Howard Stern has a pretty amazing track record with predicting media trends and trades. He foretold the entire Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien saga as soon as he heard Leno was attempting a primetime gig with the Jay Leno Show.
Howard Stern predicts disaster for The Jay Leno Show
HSS Wrap-Up Show co-host and professional pop culture analyst Jon Hein says TBS is desperate to save their investment:
"They put a lot of money into Conan and were really hanging their hats on him."
Conan's TBS talk show 'Conan' brought in about 700,000 viewers last week--about half of his target.
“With Conan it’s like, people say ‘Gee [TBS] paid him so much money.’ Yeah, you better get a lot of money because once you’re off Turner Broadcasting, I think that’s it for Conan. I think it’s done. It’s over.”
O'Brien's follow-up show featuring host George Lopez has already been cancelled.
Follow the Howard Stern Examiner on Twitter and Facebook
Want email updates on Howard Stern related stories? Subscribe here
Comments