The Late Night War and the Generation Gap

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The feud between Conan, Leno and NBC has captured the nation's attention with its high-stakes, blame game drama. But what I find most fascinating is the way it illustrates the rift between America's young and old generations.
 
It's well-known that Conan's subversive wit appeals more to the Gen Y crowd, while Leno's mainstream yuks are favored by the Boomers. It's fitting, then, that Coco's fanbase is revolting in the most millennial way possible: online.
 
On Facebook, a search for Jay Leno yields the following: Jay Leno...Satan?; Just Say No to Jay Leno; F*** Off Jay Leno; F*** You Jay Leno; and Boycott Jay Leno.The lone group committed to Jay in the late night battle? Team Jay! (Jay Leno)...with 179 members.*
 
Conversely, a search for Conan O' Brien yields these: Save Conan O' Brien. Keep Him on the Air!; Keep Conan O' Brien. Forget Leno; Screw NBC! Support Conan O'Brien!; and Screw Jay Leno! We Want Conan O' Brien!!!! There's even an illustration with Conan and the words "I'm with Coco" making the profile picture rounds.
 
Meanwhile, the Twittersphere is abuzz with #TeamConan and #GoConan hashtags. I'd be curious to see what side YP Nation bloggers fall on** (I think I have a guess).
 
It's ironic, because the young crowd is exactly who NBC was trying to lure by offering Conan The Tonight Show. But the network has proven that though it covets the young demographic, it understands very little about it. Execs keep saying Conan's lackluster ratings are why they're willing to bend backwards for Leno, but those ratings don't account for the online viewing habits of Conan's fanbase. (Leno's weak lead-in and the scant time Conan had to build an audience were also hindrances to his success. But I digress.)
 
I know plenty of Conan fans, and almost all of them watch his show on Hulu, NBC.com or YouTube. In fact, some of them don't even own a TV. This means the dinosaur-era Nielsen rating system doesn't take these viewers into account. How can NBC say no one is watching Conan's show, when they're ignoring a huge slice of his audience?
 
At the same time, the young audience is at fault, too. While watching Conan on TV (or Hulu or NBC.com) financially benefits the network and the host, watching it on YouTube or sites like Megavideo doesn't (and who in our generation hasn't watched TV this way?). It's a little unfair for young people to cry foul on the network for mistreating their Coco, when they don't always support him with the way they watch his show.
 
The debacle echoes the generational struggle of newspapers and the music industry. Both are also hurting because the establishment was initially resistant to transitioning online, and because young people feel entitled to free content. Neither side has been willing to compromise--the older generation by accounting for how young people consume their entertainment, or the young crowd by respecting that their entertainment comes at a price.
 
*Editor's note: Since the publication of this piece, it has come to our attention that at least one other pro-Leno group exists on Facebook. Please see comments below.
 
**I'm Team Conan.
 
If you liked this piece on the Leno vs. Conan debacle, check out this post on entertainment journalism.
 
(Illustration by artist Mike Mitchell)