2019 marks a year of changes for 55-year-old late night host Conan O'Brien. He is now the "old man" of late night TV, working in the genre since 1993. 2019 will be his 26th year in late night. So, just another 4 years and he ties Johnny Carson's run, and with 7 more years he ties David Letterman. Starting on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, Conan's TBS late night show will be trimmed from 60 minutes down to 30 minutes. This change means that his "Basic Cable Band" will no longer be a part of the show. Conan now has a podcast, and he has been touring doing some live comedy shows with other comics. His "Conan without Borders" shows are on Netflix. These are remote segments from his shows where he has visited other countries. Conan is often at his comedic best when he is outside the confines of the studio. Six episodes are on Netflix and he visits Cuba, Korea, Italy, Israel, Mexico and Haiti. So, the enterprise that is Conan is revamping itself, taking a step in a new direction. “Since I inherited my Late Night show in 1993, TV has changed exponentially. I’d like to think I have evolved with many of these changes, but now it’s time to take the next leap. A half-hour show will give me the time to do a higher percentage of the comedy in, and out, of the studio that I love and that seems to resonate in this new digital world,” O’Brien said in a statement announcing the changes. “It’s still going to be me hosting a very silly show, but I want segments on my half-hour program to link to digital content, deepening the experience for my younger fans, and confusing my older ones.” Podcasts and online videos from You Tube have experienced a surge in popularity. So, Conan is changing with the times.
*Some information from https://celebrityaccess.com/2018/05/03/conan-obrien-trims-show-to-30-minutes-shifts-focus-to-live-comedy/
