Hollywood Reporter: Late-Night TV’s Demise Is Nigh
Cratering revenue, nervous networks spell doom for propaganda 'comedy'
Late-night comedy is heading for the ash heap of history.
Don’t take a conservative’s word for it. Ask The Hollywood Reporter. The far-Left outlet read the format its Last Rites today. What was left out of the early autopsy?
A key reason for the landscape’s demise.
In the new documentary Lorne, a memorable scene sees Lorne Michaels, the Saturday Night Live creator and king of comedy, joining his friend Steve Martin for dinner at Orso in Manhattan. https://t.co/AlPAWlSkio
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 18, 2026
Far-Left politics that alienated half the country. The hosts leaned heavily on Clapter in the Trump era, alternately crying and lecturing their audiences.
Did anyone think that was a formula for success?
Either way, late-night television is on borrowed time. CBS decided it wasn’t cool to lose $40 million annually for the privilege of being in the Stephen Colbert business last year.
The budget cuts are a grim reality of late night. Even NBC’s Tonight Show and Late Night have had them, cutting days of production (on The Tonight Show), the house band (on Late Night) and other elements of their formats. Kimmel and ABC are likely to figure out a deal, be it pay cuts, staff reductions, fewer episodes or some combination thereof, but the cuts can only delay the inevitable.
Revenue is down, way down. And it just keeps shrinking.
Kimmel is in talks to extend his ABC reign, already at an impressive 26+ years. To do so, the show, or Kimmel himself, will have to take a hefty pay cut.
Media outlets admit this ugly truth in between, suggesting that President Donald Trump and/or the FCC are looking to silence Kimmel and co.
It’s not true. The FCC is simply noticing that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is a de facto DNC shop, promoting progressive politicians at key points in the election cycle.
That’s against the rules, something media outlets won’t say. Or, at best, they whisper it gently in between “Trump is Hitler” rants.
Conan O’Brien said it best. The late-night staple appeared on a popular YouTube program, “Hot Ones,” and did some simple math, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The channel scores tons of views and costs about as much as your uncle’s baseball card collection.
The math wasn’t mathing, so O’Brien fled the format.
Who’s next?