Stephen Colbert QUITTING The Late Show? It’s NOT the End of Late Night – Stars Are Fleeing to Podcasts for Total Creative Freedom & MASSIVE Audiences
Stephen Colbert’s farewell as host of CBS’s “The Late Show” marks the end of an era for late-night TV, but comedy is far from fading. Former hosts like Conan O’Brien, Chelsea Handler, and Samantha Bee have discovered new creative freedom and larger audiences through podcasts, joined by comedians such as Amy Poehler, Theo Von, and emerging stars like Kareem Rahma.
Trevor Noah, ex-host of “The Daily Show,” commands nearly 4.6 million YouTube subscribers on his podcast “What Now? With Trevor Noah,” surpassing his previous TV audience by over tenfold. He highlighted YouTube’s flexibility: “It’s a place where I get to make the shows that I want, with the people that I want, in a way that I want.”
Audiences for late-night television have declined significantly over 15 years, with top shows once earning over $100 million annually. “The Late Show” employed around 200 staff but lost up to $40 million a year. Podcasts, in contrast, cost a fraction to produce and allow talent to retain ownership, generating revenue from ads, subscriptions, sponsorships, events, and merchandise. WPP reports podcast ad revenue rose 25% year-on-year, while TV comedy ad spending dropped nearly 60% since 2017.
YouTube has overtaken Spotify and Apple as the leading platform for video podcasts, offering shows that resemble traditional TV talk shows. In October alone, viewers watched over 700 million podcast hours on YouTube, up from 400 million the previous year.
Conan O’Brien’s podcast, “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” exemplifies this transition, ranking 15th among top U.S. podcasts and accumulating over 230 million downloads since 2018. Industry experts highlight the creative control and financial upside, contrasting it with traditional TV pressures that contributed to CBS dismantling “The Late Show.”
Ben Davis of WME noted that owning a podcast allows creators to control content and monetize through multiple revenue streams, often surpassing network TV pay. Sean Wright of Guideline emphasized that comedy thrives on pushing boundaries, which podcasts accommodate more easily.
Colbert himself is currently exploring new projects, collaborating with filmmaker Peter Jackson on a movie adaptation of the early chapters of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” As he said in a YouTube video, “I will see you all in the Shire.”
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