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Stephen Colbert’s recent dismissal from CBS — his “Late Show” will end its run next May — has raised a lot of questions about whether the move is politically or financially motivated.
There may never be a satisfactory answer, but it has become increasingly apparent in the several days since the decision was made that a number of other players stand to benefit from the new development.
Change has been afoot in the late-night landscape. That has opened the doors for other media to move in, pulling people away from the Big Three networks and toward other forms of entertainment.
While Jimmy Kimmel at ABC and Jimmy Fallon at NBC remain on the air (for now), the sea change will continue. Here’s a look at who stands to benefit from the decline in late-night competition.
This one is easy to predict. Video podcasts, or audio shows that include a video element, have experienced a huge surge in viewership recently. A Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights survey found that 75% of podcast listeners play videos vs. 25% who only use audio. Some viewers report minimizing the screen, but interestingly, there’s no difference between younger and older consumers in this behavior.
Those with video options include many longform podcasts that last for two-plus hours, as hosts meander through interviews or share anecdotes that actually have the feel of a traditional late-night program.
These podcasts could certainly benefit from less competition after 11 p.m. If you start a video podcast at 9:30, you may not even be finished by midnight — and they are the perfect thing to have on in the background while getting ready for bed.
Streaming services have become the hot programmers in recent years. Less broadcast competition likely means more people binging Squid Game, Love Island or whatever current hit Netflix, AppleTV+ or Amazon Prime show is streaming at the moment.
Right now it seems like every five minutes brings another significant breaking news headline. Indeed, that has led to huge viewership for cable news networks, which provide analysis and break new stories. One less option for late-night viewing could mean more people looking for news during late-night hours, turning to TV or online channels.
Traditional news orgs have a large presence on social media, and that, too, could expand — a recent World Economic Forum report found that 34% of U.S. residents now list social media as their main source of news.
It is probably not surprising that Colbert’s audience leans liberal — anyone who has listened to his monologue knows that while he criticizes both parties, his politics lean left. He also rose to fame by satirizing conservative firebrand talk show hosts, which won him few friends on the right. And a YouGov analysis found that more than half of Colbert’s audience leaned left.
With one less liberal voice on the airwaves, viewers may turn to other places for that type of commentary. Whether the Stephen Colbert dismissal means more listeners for MediasTouch podcasts or late-night readers of the Bulwark Substack remains to be seen.
