Jimmy Kimmel Doesn’t Think There’s Much Of A Future For Late-Night Shows
As television habits continue to evolve with the growth of streaming platforms like Disney+ and the decline in viewership for linear channels like ABC, some television show formats might struggle to shift to a streaming future.
One television format that might not make the jump to streaming is the traditional late-night talk show. This format has been a staple for US networks for decades, with all the big channels still airing on a regular basis. Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel are all still running each weeknight.
Recently, while appearing as a guest on the Politickin’ podcast, Jimmy Kimmel, explained how he doesn’t think the late-night shows will continue.
“I don’t know if there will be any late-night television shows on network TV in ten years. Maybe there’ll be one but there won’t be a lot of them. There’s a lot to watch and now people can watch anything at anytime, they’ve got all these streaming services. It used to be Johnny Carson was the only thing on at 11:30pm and so everybody watched and then David Letterman was on after Johnny so people watched those two shows but now they’re so many options. Maybe more significantly, the fact that people are easily able to watch your monologue online the next day, it really cancels out the need to watch it when it’s on the air and once people stop watching it when it’s on the air, networks are going to stop paying for it to be made.”
Earlier this year, Jimmy Kimmel revealed that he’s not planning on renewing his contract when it comes to an end in 2026, as he’s been hosting his late-night show on ABC for over twenty years.
The other big issue for this genre is that ad revenue for the late shows dropped 41 per cent from 2018 to 2022. Though they will be making money from YouTube clips, it’s unlikely to replace the same income.
Recently, James Cordin quit his popular late-night talk show, which was replaced with a panel game show called “After Midnight,” and Seth Meyers recently revealed that due to budget cuts, he would no longer have a live band each night for his show.
Roger’s Take: It doesn’t come as a huge surprise to hear Jimmy Kimmel talking about the end of the late-night talk show, as YouTube has basically replaced it. For years, I’ve only watched the monologues after its aired (mainly because of time zones, so it’s there first thing in the morning in my subscription feed!). I’ve zero interest in listening to a generic interview by an actor or singer to promote their latest product, as YouTube once again fills that requirement in a better way. With the hosts making over ten million dollars a year, this cost is going to be harder for the studios to keep paying out for, especially if ratings continue to drop as more people move away from linear television in the future.
You can watch “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” each weeknight on ABC, and it’s also available the following day on Hulu and Hulu On Disney+.
Do you think late-night talk shows will continue? Let me know on social media!
