Conan O’Brien opened up about his departure from late-night television. In a recent conference in Los Angeles, he discussed his shift from late-night to podcasting amid the changing landscape of TV economics.
Conan O’Brien explains how changing TV economics influenced his 2021 exit
At Bloomberg’s Screentime, Conan O’Brien shared why he chose to leave late-night. He expressed that he could “see which way things were going” before he decided to wrap up his show, “Conan,” in 2021.
“I knew I wanted to wrap up my late night gig soon,” O’Brien said. The comedian continued, “I had done about 28 years between NBC, Turner, and I decided [to leave]. Some people were kind of thinking, ‘Well, if you can go to an even 30…’ And I thought, ‘I’ve loved it, but you can kind of see which way things [are] going.”
O’Brien added that “in true sort of Irish tradition,” he wanted to leave the party before he was told to leave. The 63-year-old further said, “So I said, ‘I know you want me to stay, but I better go.” He also addressed the state of late-night television and the economics of TV.
The host questioned while discussing late-night, people don’t address why it existed in the first place.
He further explained, “Network TV comes along in the late 1940s. And then, in the very late ’40s, someone realizes we all go off the air at 10:30, and then an American flag comes up and music plays, which is what happened.” He gave a house analogy in which the networks “found room that was not being used.”
O’Brien said it became a “monopoly,” and that cost-cutting had benefits, since late-night was facing competition from other networks. The Emmy winner highlighted that the internet and streamers added to the disruption.
While acknowledging the economic change, Conan O’Brien said he is in a much more comfortable situation now. “Everybody works very hard, but there’s not a ton of us, and we make something,” he noted. He continued, “The margins are fantastic, so it feels like everyone has got a crucial role. Everyone’s making something.”
