Nydius
Member
Right on cue the usual suspects on socials begin screaming politics and censorship. Of course Trump trolling doesn't help matters any. But the reality is politics had very little to do with this, beyond the fact that his hard ideological shift alienated a large number of potential viewers the show needed to remain viable.
Below is an article by Fortune from October of last year - before the election, before the CBS settlement - looking at the decline of The Late Show. For the TL;DR crowd, between 2019 and 2024, Colbert lost almost a full third (32%) of his viewership and in the first half of 2024 ad revenue was down 10%.
The Late Night format of older person staring into a network camera making sanitized jokes followed by mediocre celebrity interviews is dead. Another casualty of the internet age. Who needs these overpaid 11:35pm mouthpieces when we can find myriad other talk shows or podcasts or short form interviews all over the internet and streaming services? The writing was on the wall when CBS declined to replace James Corden and got rid of The Late, Late Show entirely.
Kimmel and Fallon are next. Networks will make a better return on their investment by slotting in reruns in these time slots rather than paying hosts millions for a dwindling audience.
Late Edit: FWIW, late night shows died for me when Craig Ferguson's run ended. I've tried watching all four of the others and none of them were enjoyable to me. Colbert lost his edge moving from Comedy Central to network TV, Kimmel was always cringe (how did he go from The Man Show to… this?), Fallon is too ADHD fanboyish and it really wears thin, and Seth Meyers seems to think his show is a Long Form Weekend Update from SNL.
Below is an article by Fortune from October of last year - before the election, before the CBS settlement - looking at the decline of The Late Show. For the TL;DR crowd, between 2019 and 2024, Colbert lost almost a full third (32%) of his viewership and in the first half of 2024 ad revenue was down 10%.
The Late Night format of older person staring into a network camera making sanitized jokes followed by mediocre celebrity interviews is dead. Another casualty of the internet age. Who needs these overpaid 11:35pm mouthpieces when we can find myriad other talk shows or podcasts or short form interviews all over the internet and streaming services? The writing was on the wall when CBS declined to replace James Corden and got rid of The Late, Late Show entirely.
Kimmel and Fallon are next. Networks will make a better return on their investment by slotting in reruns in these time slots rather than paying hosts millions for a dwindling audience.
Late Edit: FWIW, late night shows died for me when Craig Ferguson's run ended. I've tried watching all four of the others and none of them were enjoyable to me. Colbert lost his edge moving from Comedy Central to network TV, Kimmel was always cringe (how did he go from The Man Show to… this?), Fallon is too ADHD fanboyish and it really wears thin, and Seth Meyers seems to think his show is a Long Form Weekend Update from SNL.
Article: 'Not that relevant' late night TV shows fading to black as even Colbert's leading 'Late Show' sees audience drop 32%
October 25, 2024 at 7:31 AM EDT
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