Conan O'Brien

“I saw over my 17 years with NBC ... I started to see, oh, this is really changing. This is really changing,”

Conan O'Brien · said 2026-09-30 · reported 2026-10-01

O'Brien lamented the decline in the late-night TV landscape at the Bloomberg Screentime summit.

“It's a little like Detroit and automobiles,”

Conan O'Brien · said 2026-09-30 · reported 2026-10-01

O'Brien compared the late-night TV decline to the U.S. auto industry's struggles against foreign competition.

“They're asking us to be much more cost-conscious. And it was for a good reason, which is that, you know, HBO, Cinemax, these are the things [that] are coming up. There's more networks — instead of one late night show, 'The Tonight Show,' there's now 'Tonight Show' and there's David Letterman's show, then there are other shows.”

Conan O'Brien · said 2026-09-30 · reported 2026-10-01

O'Brien described how networks became more cost-conscious as more competitors emerged in late-night television.