The graveyard that is “woke” late-night TV has seen its advertising revenue plunge by a stunning 41 percent over just the last four years as audiences have tuned out.
That is a more than 10 percent average annual drop in revenue since the second year of former President Donald Trump’s presidency — after network TV made it clear the late-night format was no longer about making people laugh.
Variety reported that in 2018 seven shows made a combined $698 million in advertising revenue.
Those shows were:
“The Tonight Show,” “Late Night,” and “Saturday Night Live” on NBC, “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” on ABC, “The Late Show” and “The Late Late Show” on CBS and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”
Last year, the same shows hauled in only $412.7 million, which is a drop of 41 percent.
Even worse, Variety laughably tried to blame the loss of revenue on issues such as COVID and audience trends.
“Fallon, Kimmel, Colbert and the others have all in recent years had to grapple not only with viewers moving to streaming, but with a coronavirus pandemic that forced their shows to embrace performances without a band and live audiences and absences due to infection,” the industry outlet reported.
Yeah, sure.
Do you watch “Gutfeld!”?
Yes: 85% (29 Votes)
No: 15% (5 Votes)
Every show mentioned above has one thing in common, and it isn’t that they are funny.
These shows are hosted by dedicated leftists who wear their Democratic Party loyalties on their sleeves and in their “jokes.”
Only the truly demented among us would voluntarily subject themselves to this:
Remember how pathetic the propaganda was?
Stephen Colbert dances to a “vaccine” song praising the jab. pic.twitter.com/ypobAPrWeY
— Awake in Belfast (@AwakeinBelfast) September 4, 2022
The only person on Variety’s list who can stake a claim to having been funny at one point is Kimmel, who went “woke” years after he launched his show in 2003.
The other shows have each seen their hosts replaced with people just as crude, “woke” or unfunny in recent years.
The result is a 41 percent drop in ad revenue.
Now we’re supposed to believe these people can’t compete with Fox News host Greg Gutfeld because the late-night model is suddenly a fossil?
There is no way.
Variety did not mention Gutfeld or his hit Fox News show until 24 paragraphs into its reporting, by the way.
“Gutfeld!” has no issue competing with the empty suit that is Fallon or the crying vessel of “progressivism” that Kimmel has become.
In fact, the only host who competes with Gutfeld is Colbert.
But the story here is Gutfeld has no business beating any of these shows. Gutfeld hosts an 11 p.m. Eastern Time show on a cable channel at a news network.
He resounds with audiences because he and his guests are funny, and I’d bet his revenue is just fine after having seen how well he performs with the key 25-54 age demographic that is chased by advertisers.
The competition is all backed by a once-beloved American entertainment institution and by parent companies that are loaded.
There is no doubt late-night is struggling.
It just isn’t for the reasons the industry and its left-wing rag outlets in Hollywood would like us to believe.
