“Conan” shifting to a weekly show, according to Turner boss
Big changes are coming for Conan O’Brien’s late-night cable talk show, “Conan.”
The talk show, which premiered in November 2010, currently airs Monday through Thursday at 11:00 p.m. on TBS, but that will soon be changing to once a week, Turner CEO John Martin told The Wrap.
Martin cited a crowded and competitive late-night market, with “Conan” going up against network series starring Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel as well as cable fare like “The Daily Show” and “Watch What Happens Live.” According to Nielsen ratings, O’Brien’s show averaged 638,000 viewers per episode in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Martin said that the one-show-a-week format has been successful for fellow TBS series “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” and he expects it to be a good fit for “Conan” as well.
There was no word on when any change might go into effect. And Turner Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly, when asked about the move by Variety, stressed that no decision had actually been made.
“[O’Brien] has a very full plate in things that we’re going to be going the next step on in the next six months, and that led him to ask me, ‘Well, how do we balance this with the talk show?’” Reilly said.
“He’s going to have a show on TBS for many years to come. Right now, what form that takes in relation to these other endeavors is in flux. Is going to once a week a possibility? It is. That’s going to come from him when he’s ready to get his hands around that.”
O’Brien’s current contract with the network is set to expire in 2018.
Turner also released a statement on the news: “At this time, we have no plans to change the format or frequency of his popular TBS show. In addition to Conan’s daily responsibilities to his talk show, we continue to have very ambitious plans that will further broaden and evolve our relationship with Conan.”
Representatives for TBS and O’Brien’s production company, Conaco, declined to comment.