THOUGHTS | AMERICAN LATE-NIGHT TV'S DECLINE

First it was Stephen Colbert getting canceled, and now Jimmy Kimmel is on indefinite hiatus. It looks like the remaining names in late night television could be next. I get that late night TV throws occasional jabs at the president, but if your entire shtick is about mocking the president, you should expect blowback.

This isn’t even about free speech.

It’s about making your show divisive.

When you build your content only for Democrats, you alienate Republicans. And if Democrats themselves are either asleep, busy watching YouTube shorts, or simply tired of political jokes, then it makes sense why late night TV feels like it’s on its last legs.

In fairness to Seth Meyers, his Closer Look segment is built on political commentary because it is framed as news. The same applies to SNL’s Weekend Update and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Those shows parody the news cycle, so political content is baked into the format. Colbert, Kimmel, and now Jimmy Fallon are different because their shows lean heavily on their own views even if it hurts their networks, advertisers, affiliates, and viewers. That is a recipe for disaster.

The reality is that people no longer consume late night TV like they did before. If viewers want to hear celebrities talk about their projects, podcasts are a better format than quick seven-minute interviews. If they want silly game content, YouTube channels like Smosh can deliver more variety without time restrictions. The nightly grind of late night shows has become a breeding ground for one-sided commentary. The Daily Show actually found a clever workaround by cycling correspondents. Stewart showing up on Mondays and for special events makes his appearances feel big, while letting correspondents like Michael Costa, Jordan Klepper, or Desi Lydic bring fresh angles during the rest of the week keeps things from going stale.

Sometimes going too far left turns me off, and I don’t know if their YouTube clips are intentionally clickbait, but those titles definitely didn’t help Colbert and Kimmel. Fallon being dragged into this surprised me. I thought he was closer to Conan O’Brien, who spent only a fraction of his time on politics and used the rest to focus on comedy and his guests. That’s why I appreciate Conan, David Letterman, and even Jay Leno. Sure, Leno was seen as corporate-friendly, but he pulled in big ratings. Letterman’s humor was sharp and sarcastic, and he benefited from being in a pre-social media era. Conan, meanwhile, thrives online because his comedy and his focus on guests make his content timeless. The point of having guests is to promote their projects, not to hammer politics.

Kimmel’s most memorable run was his fake feud with Matt Damon, and even that became complicated because of Damon’s Hollywood connections. Jon Oliver and Bill Maher are polarizing too, but Oliver balances it with different topics while Maher gets away with attacking both sides. Plus, they’re on cable, which is expected to be political. Late night shows on free TV used to be an alternative to cable news. Now, with YouTube dominating, they have become yet another tool in America’s cultural divide.

Important events should be covered, but if these hosts want to spend all their energy on political messaging, podcasts would be a better outlet. Think about American Idol’s Adam Lambert versus Kris Allen. Lambert may have been the better performer, but Allen won because voters from Southern states carried him.

Kimmel may feel victimized, but if viewers in Republican states don’t think he is worth watching, ABC has no choice but to bench him.

And this comes from ABC/Disney, an erstwhile untouchable giant that has already taken huge financial hits for embracing the “woke” movement and alienating parts of its audience. Trump may be divisive too, but as president, people have no choice but to listen to him. Kimmel, on the other hand, can simply be ignored.

In a way, Trump is right when he says late night hosts are bad at their jobs. Instead of winning over audiences, they are turning people away.