I was a faithful Conan watcher back when he was “Late Night with”, but towards the end of his run there, I stopped watching late night tv entirely. I never see people sharing moments from current late night shows… ever. It’s hard to believe anyone is watching late night these days. So, in some respects, I’m not sure it matters where Conan ended up signing – although I think he would have been better positioned to capitalize on all his fans’ goodwill after the Tonight Show debacle if he’d started the show right away, instead of waiting several months. I think that had a greater effect than which network he went to.
I’m finding that a lot of young people (and I guess I don’t qualify as young, though I tend to identify more strongly with a younger demographic) don’t watch tv on tv anymore. Being on cable is not a barrier to access for Conan’s audience.