Decoder with Nilay Patel · Monday, September 14, 2026
Adam Conover explains that Hollywood's focus on high-end dramas has led them to abandon formats like game shows and comedy talk shows, which are now flourishing on YouTube. He argues that this strategic shift has created an economic disparity where traditional media struggles to compete with the free, accessible content on YouTube.
“And so if you are conceding all of game shows, along with all these other formats, you're conceding a huge swath of what used to be your business, and now you are only focused on the very high end.”
“My old show, Adam Ruins Everything, ran for 65 episodes, hit for the network, second biggest show on True TV, could not sell a show anything close to that now.”
“Now when you want to get the comedy news, you don't get to watch, you know, the Daily Show Colbert Report, those shows are going away.”
“Those shows have zero dollar budgets.”