Conan O'Brien: Late-Night TV As We Know It To Disappear

On Saturday, Conan O’Brien, while accepting an honor at the Television Academy Hall of Fame ceremony, predicted that late-night television, as it has been known since the 1950s, will “disappear” due to significant changes in the industry.

His statement came in the wake of CBS’s announcement to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May 2026, a decision attributed to financial challenges in the late-night format. 

According to USAToday, O’Brien, a veteran of late-night TV with nearly 30 years of experience hosting Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show, and Conan, acknowledged the “seismic change” in television, driven by the rise of streaming platforms and shifting viewer habits toward on-demand content like YouTube clips and podcasts.

Despite his prediction, O’Brien expressed optimism about the future of comedic voices, specifically praising Stephen Colbert as “too talented and too essential to go away.” He suggested that Colbert would evolve and thrive in a new format with greater creative control, citing his own successful pivot to podcasting with Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and his HBO Max travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go after leaving late-night TV in 2021. 

O’Brien emphasized that while the traditional late-night format may fade, the talent and connection with audiences will persist through new platforms, as long as “stories are good, performances are honest, and the people making it are brave and of goodwill.”

The cancellation of The Late Show sparked controversy, with some speculating it was influenced by Colbert’s vocal criticism of President Donald Trump, particularly after a $16 million settlement between Paramount and Trump over a 60 Minutes interview edit. O’Brien’s comments reflect a broader sentiment about the declining viability of traditional late-night TV, echoed by other hosts like Seth Meyers, who expressed concerns about the format’s sustainability.