O’Brien and his team have taken this message to the Hollywood PR machine, which looks at them as digital pioneers instead of guys who got to the party late. Weeks before Conan made its debut on TBS, O’Brien gave a presentation to top publicists in his new studio on the Warner Bros. lot. He and his digital staff explained that a guest’s appearance on Conan was no longer just about being on air for 10 minutes; it was a connection to O’Brien’s full social network of millions of fans — a connection that could last for days or even months. “The same goes for their charities and pet projects,” says Wooden. “We’re ramping up our efforts to be producing digitally exclusive content with either guests on the show or people who can’t appear because of scheduling conflicts.
