Is Late-Night TV’s Future in Danger? Here’s What We Know
By Movieguide® Contributor
As late-night TV shows continue to cut back, many are wondering what their future will look like in the world of streaming.
The most recent cut came earlier this month, when NBC announced that THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON will start airing four nights a week, removing an episode from its usual weekly schedule. Like other late-night offerings, THE TONIGHT SHOW will air a rerun on Fridays.
Variety reported that this move is “aimed at shoring up the economics of the programs as audiences move away from watching TV in linear fashion.”
Other late-night cuts include the announcement that LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS would be dropping its house band and the outright cancellation of CBS’ LATE LATE SHOW after host James Corden left.
Band member and associate musical director on LATE NIGHT Eli Janney told Vulture, “Sadly, it’s the reality of broadcast and a shrinking market — streaming eating into this, and YouTube eating into that.”
He continued, “Streaming is not making money, either. So budgets everywhere have been cut and cut and cut. I liken it to a Spotify moment in music, where suddenly it’s like, Nobody wants to pay for music. Music gets devalued.”
These budget cuts are taking many in the industry by surprise, as late-night TV was often seen as one of the safest programs to work in.
“It’s kind of surprising, because, you know, these late night variety shows were cash cows for years,” media analyst Brad Adgate told The Hollywood Reporter. “They brought in a younger audience, it was relatively inexpensive to produce, and they had a bigger ad load than, say, primetime TV.”
He added, “The audience is getting older, and desirable viewers aren’t watching [on TV]. They’re gonna watch little snippets the next day on YouTube.”
Former LATE LATE SHOW bandleader Reggie Watts added, “Late night is changing drastically and very, very rapidly. The LATE LATE SHOW got out at exactly the right time — we got just a little bit past the peak, and then we were out.”
Movieguide® previously reported on recent entertainment industry cuts:
Deadline recently discovered that Hollywood executives aren’t bonding over scripts and movie successes but over job losses and pay cuts.
“LinkedIn is usually used by professionals for networking with people in their field, posting updates when they get a new job or congratulating friends on their promotions,” Deadline said.
“These days, as one former industry type put it, ‘It’s become a therapy site for unemployed entertainment executives’ who share their frustrations over the lack of opportunities in Hollywood amid a major contraction,” Deadline continued.
In 2023, many layoffs occurred at major Hollywood studios, such as Disney, MGM, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Netflix and others.
“I’ve seen lots of downturns, lots of job losses but I’ve never seen anything like this,” one veteran top TV executive said, per Deadline. “This is a full-scale depression for the entertainment industry.”
“The dire situation,” Deadline continued, “’bordering on worst-case scenario,’ the seasoned TV executive said, was created by a perfect storm of Covid, strikes and ‘poor management decisions coming home to roost’ driven by short-sighted moves by media companies aimed at goosing their quarterly reports to appease Wall Street.”
