Will late-night television shows still be around in 2034? Jimmy Kimmel doesn’t think so.
In a new interview on the Politickin’ podcast, the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! revealed that the changing landscape of media and entertainment might not have a future for late-night shows.
“I don’t know if there will be any late-night television shows on network TV in ten years,” Kimmel said. “Maybe there’ll be one but there won’t be a lot of them. There’s a lot to watch and now people can watch anything at anytime, they’ve got all these streaming services. It used to be Johnny Carson was the only thing on at 11:30 p.m. and so everybody watched and then David Letterman was on after Johnny so people watched those two shows but now they’re so many options. Maybe more significantly, the fact that people are easily able to watch your monologue online the next day, it really cancels out the need to watch it when it’s on the air and once people stop watching it when it’s on the air, networks are going to stop paying for it to be made.”
Late-night shows have been dwindling in recent years with the cancellation of shows like Samantha Bee’s Full Frontal, Ziwe, Desus & Mero, Conan, The Late Late Show and more. Kimmel, who has hosted his own show for 21 years, signed a three-year deal in 2022. But he admitted that he’s not sure what’s next for him after his show ends next year.
“I will have a hard time when it’s over,” he said. “It worries me. That’s part of the reason I keep going. Each time, I think this is going to be my last contract and then I wind up signing another contract, it’s because I fear that day, that Monday after my final show, where it’s like ok, now what am I going to do. There aren’t a huge amount of options for late-night hosts after the shows are over. People think of you like a late-night talk show host, it’s not like you are suddenly going to start starring in films.”
Some former hosts do continue on in TV shows and films, working behind the scenes as executive producers like Late Late Show host James Cordon. Others, like David Letterman, have created new limited series on streaming networks, or pivoted to podcasts, as in the case of Conan O’Brien.
