Like many people, I’ve been reading a few articles here and there surrounding NBC’s decision to replace Conan O’Brien (or Coco, for those who are particularly close to his show). While Conan may not have been bringing in the ratings NBC was looking for, it appears the influence value Conan brings to the table is far greater than strictly traditional television ratings. To me, this is another example of incorrectly applying traditional measurement techniques in order to measure success.

It’s a little late to take back all the legal issues and settlements. However, some important lessons were learned. Besides never making a comedian mad, NBC [hopefully] learned never to miss out on a huge opportunity with community. A colleague, Rebecca Denison, asked on her blog how to quantify the measure of influence. It appears that Conan wasn’t big on TV ratings, yet he leads an enormous groundswell online. Instead of giving up, NBC should have found another way to capture Conan’s community. With a few witty tactics, Conan single-handedly armed millions of people against the network. He could have done the same, but instead arming millions of people to support NBC.

Where is Conan’s blog? Is he on Twitter? Does he have a YouTube channel? It appears Conan was not part of the groundswell until after NBC was talking about getting rid of him. In looking over the POST model from Groundswell, NBC broke the first part. P – People. Conan is popular among 18-34 year-olds. This demographic is active on social networks, yet the Tonight Show isn’t. It was only a matter of time before someone harnessed the power of this groundswell; Conan managed to after NBC wanted to get rid of him. Even though Conan is out of a job, guess who lost a lot of loyal stakeholders?

Even so, Conan is still out of NBC. I think it’s best to cite “irreconcilable differences” for this divorce. So, what’s next for Conan? I just read a piece in the New York Times recommending Conan skip the time slots and make the Internet his time slot. If I had to guess, I think Conan will continue to harness this groundswell online. Whether he joins another network is up in the year, but his Internet presence is here to stay.

So, until NBC figures out what they’re doing, I’m with Coco. I wish him the best of luck with his $30 million and his next oppounity online. Are you with Coco?

Original photo with more “I’m With Coco” swag can be found here.