Conan O'Brien likens late-night TV decline to Detroit at Bloomberg event

Conan O'Brien compared the economic trajectory of late-night television to the decline of Detroit at the Bloomberg Screentime 2026 conference in Los Angeles. Speaking to Bloomberg's Ashley Carman, the former NBC host argued that the genre's value proposition has fundamentally shifted due to the rise of streaming services and user-generated content on the internet.

O'Brien traced the history of the format back to the late 1940s, noting that networks previously went off the air at 10:30 p.m. with only an American flag and music playing overnight. He described how networks, particularly NBC, later utilized this empty airtime to create new programming. He likened this expansion to discovering an attic in a house and converting it into usable space, a move that led to a succession of hosts including Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson.

During his 17 years hosting "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" starting in 1993, O'Brien observed the industry transforming from what he called a "giant machine that fires out cash" into a sector requiring greater cost consciousness. He attributed this shift to the emergence of cable networks like HBO and Cinemax, which increased competition by launching multiple late-night programs simultaneously.

"It's a little like Detroit and automobiles. Like, the things just started to change, and you can get really upset about it," O'Brien said. He noted that the competitive landscape has since expanded further with the arrival of streamers and the internet. He emphasized that traditional late-night shows now compete against hundreds of millions of people globally who post funny videos daily, stating that statistically, some of these user-generated clips will be among the funniest content available each day.

The comments come as major networks continue to restructure their late-night lineups. TBS ended its late-night programming in 2022 after canceling "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee." CBS recently canceled "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," replacing it with Byron Allen's syndicated show "Comics Unleashed." Reports indicate that "The Late Show" was losing CBS $40 million annually while operating on a $100 million budget per season. CBS now expects to generate a $15 million profit in that time slot with the new, lower-cost programming, despite "Comics Unleashed" drawing a smaller audience than Colbert's show.