give the people what they want

The fight against Conan, Leno, and Letterman has been brewing for months. Now that it's all settled -- we have to be wondering who's won. Network televisions late night shows all seem to be variations of the same thing. Cable television, however, is certainly shaking things up. Take E! for example who decided to feature a saucy woman as the host or Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" which is a mock of news. TBS seems to be the frontrunner, choosing to feature George Lopez on their late night show. He has brought a 33% growth for late night on the cable network, has a strong following among Hispanics and African Americans (some of the fastest growing demographics in the country), and is respected by the network. It seems obvious now that ratings are dependent on what the audience wants in the programming, not on what networks need to do (or who to sign) to beat out their competition.