The announcement that CBS can be ending The Late Present in Could 2026 is difficult to interpret as something aside from the top for late evening tv. The start of the top, anyway. In simply 10 months, CBS will probably be out of the late evening sport completely, and it’s unlikely the few remaining hosts nonetheless battling for eyeballs at 11:30 p.m. will endure for much longer.
The official launch despatched out by CBS made some extent of this being “a monetary resolution towards a difficult backdrop in late evening. It’s not associated in any technique to the present’s efficiency, content material or different issues occurring at Paramount.” Which is to say, it’s not the fault of host Stephen Colbert or his workforce — or associated to the continuing, politically sophisticated Skydance merger nonetheless in progress.
(That stated, it’s nonetheless value stating that even when it have been strictly a monetary resolution, the consequence stays that CBS is shutting down one of many few mainstream voices on American TV actively criticizing the present administration.)
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Late evening discuss reveals have been a tv fixture because the Fifties, although the first-ever late-night present was CBS’s personal The Faye Emerson Present, which launched in 1949 and was hosted by actress Faye Emerson (yep, the primary late-night host was a girl). Emerson’s present didn’t final for lengthy, however the actual titan of the style, The Tonight Present (then referred to as Tonight Starring Steve Allen) premiered in 1954, and continues on right now with Jimmy Fallon as host.
Whereas The Tonight Present may nonetheless stay on the air, the methods we devour media have modified a lot because the Fifties. Actually, because the daybreak of YouTube it’s been laborious to see a protracted future forward for the traditional late evening format, because the water cooler worth of those reveals has dropped considerably in a too-online age.
Within the heyday of late evening, it was a key nexus level for the monoculture, with the format’s unscripted nature inspiring wild comedy and creating so many surprising moments. These reveals didn’t simply touch upon the information — they might make information. All whereas giving viewers a brand new perspective on their favourite stars out on the promotional circuit, and exposing them to scorching new comedians and musical artists.
Late evening has at all times been an evolving format, however the Web demanded an entire new stage of evolution, even because the format’s affect waned. When networks and studios stopped sending stop and desists to on-line platforms within the late 2000s and resigned themselves to the facility of on-line video, late evening reveals did their greatest to adapt by creating punchy, clippable interview moments, in addition to sport segments that will play properly as five-minute YouTube movies. (Sarcastically, these video games would generally evolve into full-length reveals of their very own, equivalent to Fallon’s Lip Sync Battle, which did give us the reward of Tom Holland’s “Umbrella,” so no sick could be spoken towards it.)
That evolution has had unlucky penalties, equivalent to the best way that reside music has been disappearing from late evening — one thing Mary Siroky explored deeply in a latest Consequence cowl story. With the top of Late Present (one of many few remaining late evening reveals to nonetheless function musical acts), that state of affairs solely grows extra dire, eliminating one of many few remaining alternatives for brand new acts to be found.
With Colbert ending, right here’s what’s left in late evening: After Midnight, the variability comedy sequence which changed James Corden’s personal discuss present beginning in early 2024, simply ended with the departure of host Taylor Tomlinson. (Although it’s notable that CBS selected to finish the present along with her departure, reasonably than usher in a brand new host to proceed proudly owning the time slot.) Jimmy Kimmel stated in February 2024 that he may need signed his final contract as host of Jimmy Kimmel Reside — his present contract expires in 2026.
Seth Meyers’ contract with NBC for Late Night time goes to 2028, although he’s not feeling optimistic concerning the format’s future both — in a latest interview with Selection, he stated that “except some main sea change occurs, I don’t suppose there’s going to be an entire new wave of community hosts… if you happen to’re a fantastic lover of the establishment of late-night discuss reveals, there’s most likely some unhappiness in your future.”
As for Meyers’ colleague at NBC, Jimmy Fallon’s internet hosting deal for The Tonight Present additionally goes via the 12 months 2028. Only a few months earlier than placing that deal, he informed Deadline that he wished to beat Johnny Carson’s document for internet hosting.
The legendary host lasted virtually 30 years behind the desk. 30 years would imply Fallon retiring within the 12 months 2044.
Good luck with that.