Conan O'Brien delivered a blunt take on the state of late-night television while offering a hopeful prediction about Stephen Colbert’s future. The remarks came during his induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame on Saturday.
O'Brien, who hosted "Late Night" and "The Tonight Show" on NBC before running "Conan" on TBS for nearly eleven years, said the genre is fading fast. "Yes, late-night television, as we have known it since around 1950, is going to disappear," O'Brien declared. "But those voices are not going anywhere. People like Stephen Colbert are too talented and too essential to go away."
He added that Colbert will adapt. "Stephen is going to evolve and shine brighter than ever in a new format that he controls completely."
Not all late-night hosts are struggling, though. Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld is dominating the ratings. In 2025, "Gutfeld!" averaged 3.1 million viewers through July 20. That topped CBS’ "The Late Show," which drew 1.9 million, followed by "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" at 1.5 million, "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" at 1.1 million, and "Late Night with Seth Meyers" at just 751,000.
Colbert’s run is nearing an end. CBS announced that "The Late Show" will be canceled in May 2026 with no replacement host planned. The move sparked speculation. Many fans claimed Colbert was axed because of his sharp criticism of Donald Trump, and that CBS’ parent company, Paramount, wanted to smooth things over with the Trump administration during a major merger effort.
The dispute escalated when Trump sued Paramount, accusing CBS’ "60 Minutes" of election interference in 2024. The company eventually settled for $16 million. Colbert quipped that the deal amounted to "a big fat bribe," joking, "I believe that this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles, it’s ‘big fat bribe.’"
CBS executives pushed back on claims of political pressure. They argued that the real issue was money. "The Late Show" was reportedly losing $40 million a year as viewers continued abandoning broadcast TV for streaming services.
Still, O'Brien ended on an upbeat note. A former "SNL" and "Simpsons" writer, he said television would survive any changes technology throws at it. "Technology can do whatever they want. It can make television a pill. It can make television shows a high-protein, chewable, vanilla-flavored capsule with added fiber. It still won’t matter, if the stories are good, if the performances are honest and inspired, if the people making it are brave and of goodwill."