The long, slow death of the late-night talk show

Despite their clippable formats translating well to social media, long gone are the days when Americans would religiously watch shows hosted by big personalities like Johnny Carson or Jay Leno before bed.

With streaming and social media replacing traditional TV, and expensive talent at the center of each show, the bottom line is that the late-night model doesn’t make as much sense anymore.

Indeed, despite ratings holding up better than some of his peers, Colbert’s show has reportedly been losing $40 million a year, with its ad revenue plummeting some 42% since 2018 according to Reuters, as ad dollars followed the eyeballs to TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, and Instagram.

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