The next year, Trevor Noah will leave “The Daily Show.” The “Late Late Show” Host James Corden will also leave CBS at that time. This year, “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” was canceled by TBS.
Additionally, NBC officials are considering handing local stations the 10 p.m. hour. If they do that, “The Tonight Show” might start earlier than 10:30 p.m. for the first time in its seven-decade history.
What is the future of the late-night talk show? has become a major question in the television industry as a result of all of this.
Late-night programming has been a hugely lucrative business for network television for decades. The shows had cheap production costs, provided a large amount of programming hours, and generated a huge amount of revenue.
But as streaming has grown and network TV audiences and ad income have declined, concerns that late-night programming may be the latest genre to be impacted by broad change are affecting almost every aspect of the entertainment industry.
Talk programs have been attempted by streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, but with limited success. The shows depend on topicality, which has not quite transferred to streaming, whether through an opening monologue or an interview with a celebrity whose movie is about to premiere.
Gavin Purcell, a former showrunner for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” remarked, “It’s a weird transition moment.”
According to Rob Burnett, a former executive producer for “The Late Show With David Letterman,” viewers used to develop a “strong affinity” with late-night shows in part because there wasn’t much else on television at that time.
He declared,
More actions might be forthcoming. According to three people with knowledge of the discussions who were not permitted to publicly disclose them, NBCUniversal officials are debating the future of the network’s 12:30 a.m. program, “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” as part of their discussions about the 10 p.m. hour.
According to two of the sources, executives have talked about a wide variety of options for Mr. Meyers’ show, including relocating it to a different time slot, scaling back the team, moving it to the Peacock streaming service or to MSNBC.
Both “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” stay on NBC in every scenario that is being discussed at this time, according to a statement from the network.
In a period of declining ratings, some executives have come to the conclusion that the cost to create some late-night programming, particularly around 12:30 a.m., is no longer feasible.
The late-night shows’ revenue has decreased. According to Kantar, the four late-night programs on network television generated $301 million in advertising revenue during the first half of 2021. This amount dropped to $253.6 million for the first half of this year, a 16 percent decrease. According to Kantar, the advertising revenue from Mr. Meyers’ show was $24.6 million through the first half of 2021 as opposed to $19 million through the same period in 2022.
The political comedy program “Gutfeld!” that airs on Fox News at 11 p.m. frequently pulls more viewers than any of the venerable network late-night franchises since late-night ratings have been declining so drastically.
Executives are particularly concerned about how late-night programming has struggled to adapt to streaming media. The genre standard topical introductory speech is essentially useless in streaming libraries.
Over the years, Netflix has made an effort to make talk programs successful by offering hosts like Chelsea Handler, Hasan Minhaj, Michelle Wolf, and Joel McHale series. They were all scrapped, and Netflix execs are no longer interested in the genre. The Sarah Silverman chat show that Hulu planned to produce was canceled after 21 episodes. On Apple TV+, Jon Stewart has a program that didn’t do well in its initial season of popularity.
Changes are being accelerated by the fact that the current generation of late-night network anchors doesn’t appear to want lifetime employment.
In another area of his life, Trevor Noah declared he wished to “keep on investigating.” Many members of his team, as well as top administrators at Comedy Central’s parent company Paramount, were taken aback by his news.
For the upcoming few months, Trevor Noah will still serve as the host. Comedy Central’s representative stated, “We’re excited for the next chapter.”
In addition to stating that he was leaving, Mr. Corden added that he was going to “explore what else might be out there.”
Former executive producer of Mr. Letterman, Mr. Burnett, asserted that chances are greater today than they were 20 years ago.
Regarding Johnny Carson’s lengthy tenure as “The Tonight Show” host, he commented,
Not simply the audience doesn’t want it, either. The hosts, in my opinion, want more than to work at the same desk for 40 years.
Before quitting his TBS late-night program last year, Conan O’Brien, a late-night host for over three decades, saw his audience numbers decline every year. Podcasting is a completely other format where he has found success. Recently, Mr. O’Brien’s business sold his podcasting business to SiriusXM. In their nearly three decades in late night, Jeff Ross, Mr. O’Brien’s veteran executive producer, said,
We are moving forward because, in his words,
The host at the front desk won’t leave right away. Jimmy Kimmel has renewed his agreement, which will keep him working for ABC through 2026. The most popular network late-night host, Stephen Colbert, is under contract through the next year, while Mr. Fallon secured a contract extension in late 2020.
However, the shows might adopt new formats. The late-night show that will replace Mr. Corden’s program won’t be a carbon copy of what came before, according to executives at CBS. In this year’s interview, CBS President George Cheeks remarked,
The former “Tonight Show” showrunner, Mr. Purcell, stated that he could see a late-night program on a streaming service airing after something like Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” telecast.
That might someday bring these performances back, according to him.
