Late Nights Decline

 The sources argue that the decline of the late-night television format is primarily due to cultural and technological shifts that have rendered the traditional format obsolete, rather than the hosts themselves. The core problem is that late-night shows, which were built on the premise of mass appeal, can no longer compete in an attention economy driven by specialization and niche content.

Key points regarding the decline of the late-night television format, according to the sources, include:

Economic Instability and Lower Viewership

Despite individual shows achieving high ratings within the genre, the late-night business model is facing severe economic challenges:

• The cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was a major event, though the decision to also end the Late Show brand suggests the cause goes deeper than personal politics (like a theory suggesting Colbert was dismissed to curry favor with the Trump administration).
• A "more prominent theory" suggests that Colbert’s show, despite being at the top of traditional late-night ratings, was "haemorrhaging money," reportedly losing about $40 million per year.
• Compared to the "golden era," being the top-rated late-night show today is likened to being "the tallest dwarf in the room".
• Late-night is generating progressively lower revenue while simultaneously dealing with increasing production costs. As the economics become "more dire," it is expected that remaining hosts will retire, reformat, or be replaced.

The Format: Master of None

The sources contend that the inherent "jack of all trades" nature of the late-night format—combining comedy routines, sketches, celebrity interviews, and music performances—is no longer viable. With the rise of the internet, the format has emerged as a "master of none".

Late-night was designed for a time when American culture was much more homogeneous and the goal was broad appeal. Today, the attention economy is built on niches, and being a generalist is a distinct disadvantage.

Historical Precedent: Vaudeville and Variety Shows

The current decline of late-night television is contextualized by the historical death of its two major predecessors: vaudeville and variety shows. These historical examples demonstrate how new technology changes the economic landscape of media and narrows viewers' tastes.

• Vaudeville's Decline: This live performing art, popular around the start of the 1900s, died out as audiences' wallets and tastes became better suited for specific, often cheaper, media, such as free radio shows, cheaper motion pictures, musicals, and jazz clubs.
• Variety Show's Demise: Variety shows, which adapted the vaudeville structure for early television, thrived because they were cheap to produce and attracted broad audiences when most families owned only one TV set with access to just three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC). However, around the 1970s, variety shows died out due to the rise of cable television. Cable fragmented the viewing audience by offering specialized channels (like ESPN for sports or CNN for news), meaning variety shows could no longer appeal to everyone simultaneously, causing viewership and profit margins to drop.

Fragmentation by the Internet and Social Media

The sources identify the internet and social media as the forces playing out the fragmentation that cable TV previously enacted against variety shows. Decentralized social media creators have taken over the spaces late-night used to dominate.

Specifically, late-night has lost its competitive edge in several key areas:

• Interviews: Long-form late-night interviews have been replaced by online podcasts. Shorter-form interviews are being "boxed out" by numerous lower-budget online shows, often with a specific gimmick, such as Hot Ones, Chicken Shop Date, and Ziwe.
• Comedy and Exposure: Appearing on late-night used to be the pinnacle of a comedian’s career, guaranteeing essential national exposure. Now, comedians can gain more exposure by posting clips on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, or by appearing on other comedians’ podcasts (like Joe Rogan’s Podcast, which boasts more listeners than any late-night host). Furthermore, people now use platforms like Twitter to provide "sharp and observant commentary" on news in real time, a function late-night used to fulfill.
• Music Performances: Late-night was once the "marquee television platform" for musicians. It has now been replaced by online outlets like COLORS and Tiny Desk Concerts, which offer a uniquely intimate, minimalistic, and acoustically focused aesthetic.

Host Responses and the Future of the Format

Recognizing this shift, many late-night talents are choosing to retire, reformat, or move to platforms that offer more "creative freedom to make more laid-back, personal and lower-budget projects".

• In 2022, Trevor Noah left The Daily Show to focus on stand-up and subsequently started a podcast. His predecessor, Jon Stewart, briefly hosted a different show on Apple+ and now also has a podcast, alongside his current Monday hosting duties on The Daily Show.
• Conan O’Brien retired, hosts a podcast (and sold his company for $150 million), and continues his travel show.
• Even veteran David Letterman shifted to an exclusive celebrity interview format on Netflix, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.
• Attempts to revive the traditional format, such as those by Taylor Tomison or Netflix's latest attempts, are suspected to fail or lack the cultural impact of the golden era.

The sources conclude that if late-night survives, it will likely need to adopt a "similarly narrow or absurd format". Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is cited as one of the few shows that successfully navigated the internet era by carving out a loyal niche, operating more as a weekly internet show that posts its main segments to YouTube for free and avoids the traditional mix of guest interviews and musical acts. When shared reality fractures, the only remaining shared entertainment may be the absurdity of it all.