Conan O’Brien Says Late-Night TV Is Ending — And a YouTube Show Convinced Him
Conan O’Brien said that traditional late-night television is drawing to a close, pointing to the massive success of low-cost online interview shows as the moment he knew the format was in trouble.
O’Brien said his revelation came after he appeared on Hot Ones in 2024. Hot Ones is an interview series on YouTube where a host and a celebrity guest eat progressively spicier chicken wings while having a conversation. There is no studio orchestra, no elaborate set, no large production crew of the kind traditional late-night programs require.
Yet the show has become a destination for major stars — the kind of guests who once reserved their appearances for the couches of Letterman, Leno, or Carson. O’Brien’s episode alone has received more than 15 million views.
“That was the moment the scales fell from my eyes,” O’Brien told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2206. “If a guy can do World Series numbers with overhead that looked, to me, to be about $600, and you have every big star lining up to do his show or Chicken Shop Date … that’s when I profoundly understood that late night shows are in trouble.”
His comparison to “World Series numbers” underscores the scale of viewership these low-cost online programs are commanding — audiences rivaling major television events at a fraction of the production expense. Chicken Shop Date is another popular online interview series, also produced outside the traditional television system, that has attracted high-profile guests and large audiences.
“I’m of the mind that yes, these shows are going away and will become something else,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien made his remarks in the context of the announced ending of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, one of the last remaining pillars of the traditional late-night lineup. For many longtime viewers, the conclusion of that program marks the fading of a format that once occupied a central place in American culture.
According to the source interview, O’Brien had been privately encouraging Colbert not to feel bound to the late-night desk. Colbert himself confirmed this, recounting a conversation at an Emmy Awards gathering.
“We were out, a few Emmys ago, and he kept saying, ‘I want you to know there’s a lot of fun to be had when this is over, so don’t feel like you need to stay.’ It almost hurt my feelings, but he was just being kind. He Dutch uncle’d me,” Colbert told THR.
O’Brien’s own late-night career spanned nearly three decades. He hosted Late Night with Conan O’Brien from 1993 to 2009, then briefly hosted The Tonight Show from 2009 to 2010 on NBC. He later hosted Conan on TBS until 2021.
O’Brien’s reflections were not limited to audience trends and digital competition. He also addressed a more troubling development with political overtones.
The interview referenced a temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! after controversial comments made by host Jimmy Kimmel sparked backlash. Disney suspended the show after two major affiliate owners pulled the program from their stations. The show later returned following a brief hiatus.
O’Brien did not mince words about this kind of external pressure on late-night television.
“But I don’t like when other malign forces intervene, because they’re trying to curry favor. That pisses me off,” O’Brien said.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
