Conan O'Brien leaves no room for doubt about Stephen Colbert

Conan O’Brien has declared that late-night TV is fading but praised Stephen Colbert as “too talented and too essential to go away.”

For the unversed, the 62-year-old American television host and comedian received one of this year’s top Television Academy honours.

Articulating his thoughts at the Academy Hall of Fame on Saturday, August 16, O’Brien claimed the award came at a strange time because “there’s a lot of fear about the future of television, and rightfully so. The life we’ve all known for almost 80 years is undergoing seismic change.”

He went on to share with the audience at the J.W. Marriot Hotel in downtown’s LA Live district, saying, “This might just be my nature. I choose not to mourn what is lost, because I think in the most essential way, what we have is not changing at all. Streaming changes the pipeline, but the connection, the talent, the ideas that come into our homes… I think it’s the focus. We have proof here tonight.”

The Now You See Me star also reflected on the success of recent series Hacks, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, and Abbott Elementary, noting Hollywood still has creative opportunities.

“It’s all electrifying a new generation of viewers. 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,” O’Brien stated.