Disruption is among us.
Once the desire to see disruption is within oneself, it is rather easy to start picking up where it is happening. This is something that can be extremely beneficial when it comes to investing, career choices, or simply paths in life that are taken.
We have discussed what is taking place with technology and Hollywood. So far our focus has been rather wide in scope.
In this article we will get a bit more directed in our target: late night television.
Johnny Carson Is Gone
The Tonight Show is classic television in the United States. This is a franchise that had Johnny Carson, Jack Paar, and Steve Allen, Jay Leno did a great job replacing the legend, Carson,
After that, it was all downhill.
This wasn't necessarily due to the replacements. Letterman was another mainstay for decades on late night television. His retirement meant there was a void that could not be filled.
Today, we are looking at another dead man walking. Late night television is competing with cable news to see who hits the demise first.
Both are fast tracking to the grave.
No Reason To Watch
The genre is dead.
While it is easy to blame the hosts, writers, and an assortment of other issues, the main problem is the timing.
We live in a world of instant information. Cable news is struggling because people get their information from other sources. One only needs to be on X to get the gist of anything that is happening.
With late night television, one of the allures was the stand up at the beginning of the show. Unfortunately, by the time they air, there are a million jokes on social media about the topic. At that hour, it is old news.
Another issue is in access.
Decades ago, actors, singers, and other entertainers were not available to the public. The only way to see then was on something like Carson. Outside of that, there was very little revealed.
That isnt the case today. Celebrities are everywhere. You can search the name of most and come up with a plethora of interviews, shorts, or podcasts they did. The mystery surrounding these people is no longer there.
What this means is that tuning in to see a big name actress on The Tonight Show is no longer required. You can see here in a million other places. Hell just follow her on a platform like Instagram and you will see most everything about her life.
All of this equates to dwindling viewship.
Much like cable news, the numbers are in the toilet. The number of people watching is continuing to decline. To make matter worse, these shows had to make themselves friendly to social media, since that is how they are promoted. The challenge here is that many people tune into the show on those sites also.
In other words, cord cutting is affect the late night shows also.
The Writer's Strike
With a settlement on the table, things can return.
The writer's strike affected late night television. Fallon etal were sidelined for the past 5 months as the union and the studios bickered over a new contract.
Now that terms were reached, they can go back to work and these shows can air.
The problem is did anyone really miss them? How many people were distraught they could not see these shows? I would surmise it is nothing compared to Carson or Leno being off air for that long.
Times changed and people have a lot of other options.
Late night television is getting swept out to sea by the shift that is taking place. We are in the attention economy and the numbers show the eyeballs are not on them. They, too, could be facing a demographic issue as the Boomers, traditional watchers of broadcast television, die off.
The parallel to the cable news is interesting. It is easy to see a correlation here.
Tens of millions are spend by these networks for the hosts of these shows. The question is whether they are bringing the money in.
Another few legs down in the ratings and it is game over.