Conan O’Brien made a bold prediction about late-night TV amid Stephen Colbert‘s Late Show cancellation.
On Saturday, August 16, O’Brien was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame alongside Viola Davis, Don Mischer, Ryan Murphy, Mike Post, and Henry Winkler. While accepting the honor, the comedian spoke of the role that late-night television has played in society.
“I’ve dabbled in other things, but that’s where I’ve lived,” the former host of Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien, and Conan said. “And for those of you under 40, late-night television was a service designed to distract college students until science would perfect the internet and online pornography. And boy, did they get that right.”
O’Brien also weighed in on the future of television — and specifically, the state of late-night shows — amid the streaming takeover.
“It’s all electrifying a new generation of viewers,” O’Brien pointed out before making his prediction. “Yes, late-night television, as we have known it since around 1950, is going to disappear. But those voices are not going anywhere. People like Stephen Colbert are too talented and too essential to go away.”
Additionally, O’Brien addressed CBS ending The Late Show in May 2026 and his prophecy for Colbert’s future.
“Stephen is going to evolve and shine brighter than ever in a new format that he controls completely,” he predicted. “So, 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.”
Circling back to being inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, O’Brien ended on a lighter note.
“This is the honor of a lifetime. It means everything to me,” he told the audience. “I’m stunned to be in this company. I don’t think I deserve it, but I’ll take it. And my grandfather always said, take what you can and ask for more. And I’m going to do that tonight.”