Conan O’Brien is 1st U.S. Late Night Host to Visit Cuba Since 1962 Embargo

[JamesG]

See Conan Storm Cuba Ahead of Late-Night Competitors
by Lisa de Moraes
February 16, 2015


Jimmy Fallon may have taken NBC’s "Tonight Show" to Phoenix and Los Angeles – but Conan’s in Cuba.

Conan O’Brien and a small crew flew to Havana Thursday and have spent the weekend filming for his TBS late-night show’s March 4 episode, becoming the first American late-night show to film in Cuba since the U.S. embargo began in 1962.





In December, President Obama announced he would normalize relations with Cuba, despite continued criticism from hardliners particularly in South Florida’s fiercely conservative Cuban expat community.

Jack Paar famously interviewed Fidel Castro for the "Tonight Show" in 1959, for which Paar got criticized in some circles. (Castro was a big “get” that year for obvious reasons and also was interviewed by CBS’s Sunday Beltway show — and Ed Sullivan.)





O’Brien’s show is known for its road trips, having previously filmed in Ireland, Finland, and Toronto as well as New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.

His remotes are a signature thing, including last week when O’Brien and Steven Yuen visited a Korean spa, and that Lyft ride Conan took through Hollywood with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart that went viral late last year.





Conan’s been talking about traveling to Cuba for a couple of months. He waited until now to go film the episode because his show does not do a live episode on President’s Day, giving him the needed travel time for the trip.

The episode is intended to give O’Brien’s audience a rare glimpse into Cuban daily life, said show representatives in confirming the report to Deadline.

http://deadline.com/2015/02/conan-ob...bs-1201374174/

[JamesG]

"Conan in Cuba" Clocks 2 Million Viewers On Opening Night – Update
by Lisa de Moraes
March 5, 2015


An average of nearly 2 million people watched the premiere of "Conan in Cuba" on opening night. TBS’s unveiling of Conan O’Brian’s historic trip to Cuba logged 1.3 million viewers in its 11 PM ET premiere on Wednesday, after which the network immediately ran it again, posting another 510,000 viewers.

For comparison sake, 642,000 watched O’Brien’s late night show, "Conan" one night earlier.



The first telecast alone ranks No. 31 among all of "Conan’s" telecasts to date. Expect the special’s crowd to grow as additional viewing is factored in, including not just last night’s repeat telecast, but also DVR viewing, viewing on other platforms, etc.

Some context: In the first quarter of ’15, "Conan" clocked an average of 807,000 viewers — 255,000 in the 18-34 year old age bracket.





During last night’s special, Conan mocked CNN, learned the importance of the Cuban clave beat and wowed a band with his 8th grade Spanish skills, mastered the Spanish tongue twister about three sad tigers, sampled rum — a lot — with guide Gretel, took an intensive lesson to master the erotic rumba, and visited the famous waterfront promenade where Cuban youth shared with him their rum — in a box — and cigarettes, which Conan speculated cost him all his show sponsors.

http://deadline.com/2015/03/conan-cu...gs-1201386722/