TBS moving Conan to half-hour format starting in 2019

Starting in 2019, you are going to see a little bit less of Conan than you are used to. The late-night show hosting by Conan O’Brien is going to be shifting from an hour-long program down to just 30 minutes — it will continue to air from Mondays through Thursdays, but the format change is a big one for a man who has spent over two decades now doing shows within a certain frame of time.

So why the change? As O’Brien explains in a statement, much of this seems to be in order to evolve the show more towards what is popular today:

“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. 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.”

Conan is right in that the majority of the popular internet segments aren’t necessarily the traditional late-night interviews or some of the other stuff that we’ve seen across the board in this genre. What tends to last are the memorable segments or the experiences that are new and different. Take, for example, all of the wonderful Conan Without Borders episodes that are basically Parts Unknown with a comedian other than Anthony Bourdain. Conan has an opportunity to become more of an individual in a crowded landscape and we appreciate that. These out-of-studio segments do take more time to shoot, so it makes sense that something would have to give in order to ensure that everything gets done.

What do you think about Conan shifting over to a half-hour format? Be sure to share right now in the comments below!

Meanwhile, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some other news when it comes to the series. (Photo: TBS.)