Opinion: Late-night television's golden age is over
The gradual shift away from linear TV to streaming does not look hospitable to traditional late-night shows, which lean heavily on jokes about news of the day and topical comedy.
www.cnn.com
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Bill Carter: Late-night television’s golden age is over
- Thread starter nomadcowatbk
- Start date
www.cnn.com
Interesting take. I'd say there are lots of factors at play. When Carson and even Letterman to some extent were around, "showbiz" was a thing and the same folks you saw on the Tonight Show were the same ones you saw on the celebrity roasts, daytime TV game shows, Circus of the Stars, the Jerry Lewis telethon, headlining in Vegas and on network TV shows and sitcoms, and in movies on at least a somewhat regular basis. "Showbiz", for better or worse, has been gone for almost a few decades. Now we have Youtube and TikTok stars, and so many different cable channels, streaming services and other outlets offering their own shows, content and programming that the audience is a lot more fractured.Opinion: Late-night television's golden age is over
The gradual shift away from linear TV to streaming does not look hospitable to traditional late-night shows, which lean heavily on jokes about news of the day and topical comedy.
Also, as someone mentioned in a recent thread about Saturday Night Live, there are lots of people who watch few if any episodes of SNL or Fallon or Kimmel when they air, but if they hear about an interesting interview or funny skit, they might look it up and watch just that video on Youtube.
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long breaks during the summer when Trump hasn't gone away isn't helping
does Gutfeld get much buzz on youtube? I thought conservatives went to bed early cause they have jobs and that led to failure of Rush Limbaugh's syndicated TV show which aired late in most markets
That's true. Like watching the game show Generation Gap when they have a celebrity guest that's well known from the Jefferson and 227, to the host of American idol that people know. But when they have a celebrity guest from YouTube or tiktok I have no clue who they are. And people on YouTube and Tiktok aren't celebrity's their just random people doing stupid stuff on social media.
By definition, they are celebrities. You not knowing them because of their platform does not change that. We are well into this new century, and social media isn’t going away. People there can attract attention on par with those in music, TV or movies.
You not knowing them isn’t the barometer.
You not knowing them isn’t the barometer.
The late-night show is dying, because network TV is dying. It has little to do with the shows themselves.
I thought they were declining 10 years ago after the last late night shuffle with Jay and Conan.
When Letterman retired that cut my watching late night shows way back.
After Last Call ended on NBC at 1:35am/12:35am (ct) nbc replaced it with some lady I think from YouTube or some platform. It didn't do so well so most nbc affiliates now air a repeat of their 10pm news in that slot.
The young lady's name is Lilly Singh.
And "A Little Late" has indeed been cancelled. It's final first run episode aired on June 3rd.
NBC has apparently turned the 1:30-2 A.M. (ET/PT; 12:30-1 A.M. CT/MT) half-hour back to it's affiliates; NBC-owned WBTS-15 here in Boston is also running a rebroadcast of it's late evening local newscast in the 1:30-2 A.M. (ET) half-hour, followed by a rebroadcast of "NBC Nightly News".
And "A Little Late" has indeed been cancelled. It's final first run episode aired on June 3rd.
NBC has apparently turned the 1:30-2 A.M. (ET/PT; 12:30-1 A.M. CT/MT) half-hour back to it's affiliates; NBC-owned WBTS-15 here in Boston is also running a rebroadcast of it's late evening local newscast in the 1:30-2 A.M. (ET) half-hour, followed by a rebroadcast of "NBC Nightly News".
Bill Carter may be as close to being the authority on late-night television as anyone; he's written numerous articles and a couple of best-selling books on the subject.
I doubt CBS turns is back to the locals. They will however cheapen the show.
What's happening is that the big 3 late-night hosts aren't even getting 2 million viewers a night. Yet Fox News' 'Gutfeld!' is beating them all, by a few hundred thousand a night.
I can't laugh at anything Kimmel, Colbert, or Fallon try to joke about. Once Letterman and Ferguson left, the late-night shows went to heck in a handbasket and it hasn't come back since, and probably never will.
Meanwhile, Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) is what I enjoy watching. He has a variety of panelists and guests from either end of the spectrum and while he still leans liberal, he makes jokes about BOTH parties. Some of his puns are hilarious. I don't know how his ratings are doing, since it is a premium cable show, but each of his New Rule segments gets a few million views on YT a week.
I can't laugh at anything Kimmel, Colbert, or Fallon try to joke about. Once Letterman and Ferguson left, the late-night shows went to heck in a handbasket and it hasn't come back since, and probably never will.
Meanwhile, Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) is what I enjoy watching. He has a variety of panelists and guests from either end of the spectrum and while he still leans liberal, he makes jokes about BOTH parties. Some of his puns are hilarious. I don't know how his ratings are doing, since it is a premium cable show, but each of his New Rule segments gets a few million views on YT a week.
It could get worse / cheaper than James Corden? If it wasn't for carpool karaoke, that guy would have been yanked long ago, me thinks. That's to say nothing of the fact that he's supposedly full of himself and pretty much a d!ck to most everyone once the cameras are off..And sometimes even when they're rolling (as was the case when he got in a tiff with Patrick Stewart a few years back on another show).
That's why I miss Craig Ferguson, Geoff, and Secretariat. His show was awesome. The cold opens, especially. He was probably the last Big 3 late-night host who was very funny.
If CBS wants to cheapen the 12:37 time slot, why not air reruns of their CSI, FBI, NCIS type shows ala the old 'Crimetime After Primetime'? Saves the use of a studio, host, behind-the-scenes crew, and audience. The 12:37 time slot can't even get 1 million viewers on either NBC (Seth Meyers) or CBS (Corden). Albeit, I think 'Late Night' went down the tube after Conan left.
If CBS wants to cheapen the 12:37 time slot, why not air reruns of their CSI, FBI, NCIS type shows ala the old 'Crimetime After Primetime'? Saves the use of a studio, host, behind-the-scenes crew, and audience. The 12:37 time slot can't even get 1 million viewers on either NBC (Seth Meyers) or CBS (Corden). Albeit, I think 'Late Night' went down the tube after Conan left.
How many networks in general are getting 2 million viewers per show.
That’s not a great number really.
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