Death of Late Night Television

[MuggsyB]

This topic can be expanded to all of network TV, minus sports.  It's a total dying industry. 

The average age watching any random "TV channel" is in their 60s.  Those viewers are dying, and the young people are watching Youtube for free, and Netflix for a fraction of Cable/Streaming OTT services. -- Heck, even senior citizens are watching Youtube in increasing numbers.

Network TV is evaporating.


[/quote

True, but they're not watching any of these shows on Ytube or other mediums. 

[Jay Bee]

Greg's career has been terrific and it's a wonderful show.

Happy to have written for Red Eye in the early days. #Gutfeld

[Shaka Shart]

Greg's career has been terrific and it's a wonderful show.

Happy to have written for Red Eye in the early days. #Gutfeld

Did you talk a lot about your pickle

[21Jumpstreet]

Did you talk a lot about your pickle

Pawz

[Jay Bee]

Did you talk a lot about your pickle

Way worse than that. Still can't believe the stuff we could get away with back then.

"if hilarity were ringworm, he'd be inside my dog"

"if intelligence was a bullpen, men would warm up inside him"

[Billy Hoyle]

The Late Show is vastly different from what Letterman's show was (they all are), but Colbert is funny.

Colbert was awesome when he was playing a character on the Colbert Report.

[muwarrior69]

A lot of network

This topic can be expanded to all of network TV, minus sports.  It's a total dying industry. 

The average age watching any random "TV channel" is in their 60s.  Those viewers are dying, and the young people are watching Youtube for free, and Netflix for a fraction of Cable/Streaming OTT services. -- Heck, even senior citizens are watching Youtube in increasing numbers.

Network TV is evaporating.

All those network shows are on streaming services like Peacock, Paramount+ and Disney+. Youtube is not completely free. AM and FM radio were considered dead but they're still here.

[Uncle Rico]

A lot of network
All those network shows are on streaming services like Peacock, Paramount+ and Disney+. Youtube is not completely free. AM and FM radio were considered dead but they're still here.

I like my tv with as many limited options as possible.  Back in my day, 4 channels is all I needed

[The Sultan]

I like my tv with as many limited options as possible.  Back in my day, 4 channels is all I needed

Hopefully PBS isn't one of the four comrade.

[MU82]

Colbert was awesome when he was playing a character on the Colbert Report.

The Colbert Report and The Daily Show was a great hour of TV.

IMHO, it's also true that Colbert is still funny.

[Uncle Rico]

Hopefully PBS isn't one of the four comrade.

I deplore learning unless it's the NY Post

[JWags85]

Hopefully PBS isn't one of the four comrade.

PBS in 2025 is interesting.  I don't think I know anyone who watches PBS programming as an adult anymore, I feel like the demo of my grandparents (Post-War/Pre-Boomer) was the last that I remember actively tuning in.  I remember watching Antiques Roadshow and Rick Steves with my grandma and my grandfather was devoted to McLaughlin Group and Wall Street Week (always thought Louis Rukeyser looked like George Wasthington). 

However, at the same time, I think its at its peak for kid focused programming.  I watched Sesame Street and others as a kid, not in small part due to lack of other kid focused programming without the explosion of cable.  But now, even with tons of streaming options, YouTube, and a bunch of stuff on Disney/Nick Kids, PBS Kids has some of the absolute best stuff out there.

[Uncle Rico]

PBS in 2025 is interesting.  I don't think I know anyone who watches PBS programming as an adult anymore, I feel like the demo of my grandparents (Post-War/Pre-Boomer) was the last that I remember actively tuning in.  I remember watching Antiques Roadshow and Rick Steves with my grandma and my grandfather was devoted to McLaughlin Group and Wall Street Week (always thought Louis Rukeyser looked like George Wasthington). 

However, at the same time, I think its at its peak for kid focused programming.  I watched Sesame Street and others as a kid, not in small part due to lack of other kid focused programming without the explosion of cable.  But now, even with tons of streaming options, YouTube, and a bunch of stuff on Disney/Nick Kids, PBS Kids has some of the absolute best stuff out there.

Sesame Street is WOKE AS F. 

[WarriorFan]

I seriously cannot remember the last time I turned on network TV (for anything other than sports).  15 or more years, for sure.

[The Sultan]

PBS in 2025 is interesting.  I don't think I know anyone who watches PBS programming as an adult anymore, I feel like the demo of my grandparents (Post-War/Pre-Boomer) was the last that I remember actively tuning in.

Just last night I watched an episode of NOVA on whale evolution. They also have a pretty good series on the Roosevelts that I have been watching as well.

But the problem is they'll throw something like Masterpiece Theatre in there and I'm tuning out.

[mu_hilltopper]

I don't understand why Sesame Street is still in production.

I mean .. after 56 years, haven't they pretty much covered the entire alphabet?   

It's not like we're discovering new letters. 

If you showed any random 20 year old episode, no 4-year-old is going to notice.

And not to mention .. I bet their viewership is down 95%.  My kids barely watched -- so many other shows caught their attention.

[Warriors4ever]

I watch PBS. I am watching the rerun of the Roosevelts for the umpteenth time, learn something new each time. It makes me wish for leaders like them, but I digress. I love Call the Midwife and All Creatures Great and Small. I do catch things like Nova but not all the time. Ken Burns has a series coming this fall on the American Revolution that I am eagerly awaiting.,
While I am not into mysteries, I have many friends who watch the ones on PBS, as well as on other networks.

[JWags85]

I don't understand why Sesame Street is still in production.

I mean .. after 56 years, haven't they pretty much covered the entire alphabet?   

It's not like we're discovering new letters. 

If you showed any random 20 year old episode, no 4-year-old is going to notice.

And not to mention .. I bet their viewership is down 95%.  My kids barely watched -- so many other shows caught their attention.

This is a fair point.  My son loves Sesame Street, but literally the only way to differentiate between episodes over the last decade is assorted musical guests who were popular at the time and not so much now, and one of the main human actors who has probably gained 100 lbs during his long run on the show.

I don't agree with the viewership numbers though.  Over the last year, Ive been to Sesame Street sections at 2 different theme parks and a Sesame Street live show.  All 3 were packed with kids under the age of 8 who were clearly huge into Sesame Street and not just there cause it was a kid focused area.

I think the aforementioned PBS Kids programming/app and Sesame Street being on HBO Max have had a big impact the last few years, more so than a decade or so ago.

[brewcity77]

I don't understand why Sesame Street is still in production.

I mean .. after 56 years, haven't they pretty much covered the entire alphabet?   

It's not like we're discovering new letters. 

If you showed any random 20 year old episode, no 4-year-old is going to notice.

And not to mention .. I bet their viewership is down 95%.  My kids barely watched -- so many other shows caught their attention.

You could not possibly be any more wrong about the bolded. The pace and production value of Sesame Street on the recent HBO episodes compared to episodes from even just a decade ago is radically different. My kids (4 & 7) have avidly watched those at times of their childhood, but if I try to put an old episode of those (or god forbid, Mr. Rogers, which I grew up on) they will become disinterested in minutes and either change the channel or go do something else.

Children's programming has evolved as much, if not more so, than any other medium. My first thought reading this thread was that one of the things hugely denting late night is likely TikTok and other algorithm based apps that are designed to just keep users scrolling. Instead of laying down and putting Colbert on, viewers are just scrolling their phones in bed for an hour before going to sleep. I think this somewhat captures the change in viewing habits:

I'm trying to find the tweet/article I saw, but early on, one of Colbert's strengths was the younger relative age of his viewer.  Recently the average age has spiked up to 67/68, I believe.

I'm really trying to be less online and less in my phone, and it's made me realize how much pretty much anyone under the age of 60 is just constantly absorbed. People are scrolling more, watching shorter pieces of content that only have to keep them engaged for 3-5 minutes, then moving on to the next.

Which comes back to children's programming. I don't think it's a coincidence that Bluey is the most popular kids show going. The average episodes are only 6-8 minutes long. There's only one episode (The Sign) that is more than 10 minutes, and that mammoth episode checks in at 28 minutes. Attention spans are shorter, which has led to shorter and shorter pieces of programming. I think the death of late night is because people just aren't willing to sit for something that long. Like MU82 said, watch the monologue and shut it off.

[muwarrior69]

You could not possibly be any more wrong about the bolded. The pace and production value of Sesame Street on the recent HBO episodes compared to episodes from even just a decade ago is radically different. My kids (4 & 7) have avidly watched those at times of their childhood, but if I try to put an old episode of those (or god forbid, Mr. Rogers, which I grew up on) they will become disinterested in minutes and either change the channel or go do something else.

Children's programming has evolved as much, if not more so, than any other medium. My first thought reading this thread was that one of the things hugely denting late night is likely TikTok and other algorithm based apps that are designed to just keep users scrolling. Instead of laying down and putting Colbert on, viewers are just scrolling their phones in bed for an hour before going to sleep. I think this somewhat captures the change in viewing habits:

I'm really trying to be less online and less in my phone, and it's made me realize how much pretty much anyone under the age of 60 is just constantly absorbed. People are scrolling more, watching shorter pieces of content that only have to keep them engaged for 3-5 minutes, then moving on to the next.

Which comes back to children's programming. I don't think it's a coincidence that Bluey is the most popular kids show going. The average episodes are only 6-8 minutes long. There's only one episode (The Sign) that is more than 10 minutes, and that mammoth episode checks in at 28 minutes. Attention spans are shorter, which has led to shorter and shorter pieces of programming. I think the death of late night is because people just aren't willing to sit for something that long. Like MU82 said, watch the monologue and shut it off.

I certainly hope my surgeon's attention span is longer than 6-8 minutes.

[Scoop Snoop]

I certainly hope my surgeon's attention span is longer than 6-8 minutes.

It's not. After 8 minutes, he lets the med students take turns while he plays games on his phone. Occasionally he'll glance at what they have done and, if necessary, suggest ways they can correct their errors. I cannot believe that you do not know this.

Eight minutes is a lot longer than the attention span of many scoopers when they read posts that do not align with their views.

[Billy Hoyle]

You could not possibly be any more wrong about the bolded. The pace and production value of Sesame Street on the recent HBO episodes compared to episodes from even just a decade ago is radically different. My kids (4 & 7) have avidly watched those at times of their childhood, but if I try to put an old episode of those (or god forbid, Mr. Rogers, which I grew up on) they will become disinterested in minutes and either change the channel or go do something else.

Children's programming has evolved as much, if not more so, than any other medium. My first thought reading this thread was that one of the things hugely denting late night is likely TikTok and other algorithm based apps that are designed to just keep users scrolling. Instead of laying down and putting Colbert on, viewers are just scrolling their phones in bed for an hour before going to sleep. I think this somewhat captures the change in viewing habits:

I'm really trying to be less online and less in my phone, and it's made me realize how much pretty much anyone under the age of 60 is just constantly absorbed. People are scrolling more, watching shorter pieces of content that only have to keep them engaged for 3-5 minutes, then moving on to the next.

Which comes back to children's programming. I don't think it's a coincidence that Bluey is the most popular kids show going. The average episodes are only 6-8 minutes long. There's only one episode (The Sign) that is more than 10 minutes, and that mammoth episode checks in at 28 minutes. Attention spans are shorter, which has led to shorter and shorter pieces of programming. I think the death of late night is because people just aren't willing to sit for something that long. Like MU82 said, watch the monologue and shut it off.

the SAT recognized the shorter attention spans and dramatically cut the length of reading passages from 500-700 words to 25-150, basically the length of a tweet. I asked one of my old MU poli sci professors about this and he said he's seen a significant drop in the ability of his students to read and comprehend longer passages from text. Just wait until these kids get to law school.

[Dish]

I don't know if anyone else remembers this HBO movie, but always enjoyed The Late Shift movie (based on the book). Movie chronicled the Leno/Letterman fight for Carson's spot after he announced he was retiring.

I really enjoy Matt Belloni's work, and he made a great point recently. 20 years ago, a guy like Nate Bargatze would have been an up and coming comic and probably being talked about to host a late night program. Now he can go sell out any arena, make a deal with Netflix for truckloads of cash, and not have to work four/five nights a week, for 40+ weeks a year grinding out a late night talk show. So it's not just the economics with these shows losing money, no reasonably good comic would want to live with that schedule/grind any more.

[brewcity77]

the SAT recognized the shorter attention spans and dramatically cut the length of reading passages from 500-700 words to 25-150, basically the length of a tweet. I asked one of my old MU poli sci professors about this and he said he's seen a significant drop in the ability of his students to read and comprehend longer passages from text. Just wait until these kids get to law school.

But the reality is this isn't just kids. It's all of society. Professionals in their 30s, 40s, 50s have had similar attention span declines. I've seen a few conflicting numbers, but generally studies show Americans average between 6 hours 38 minutes to 7 hours 3 minutes of screen time per day. That's close to half their waking hours.

https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/research/screen-time-statistics

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/screen-time-stats

https://www.magnetaba.com/blog/average-screen-time-statistics

[The Sultan]

But the reality is this isn't just kids. It's all of society. Professionals in their 30s, 40s, 50s have had similar attention span declines. I've seen a few conflicting numbers, but generally studies show Americans average between 6 hours 38 minutes to 7 hours 3 minutes of screen time per day. That's close to half their waking hours.

https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/research/screen-time-statistics

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/screen-time-stats

https://www.magnetaba.com/blog/average-screen-time-statistics

If you send me an email that's more than two paragraphs, it's getting thoroughly skimmed. (Unless you are my boss.)