Episode
What the Death of Late Night Teaches Podcasters.
- Published
- Jun 1, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3204
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- http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com
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Summary
Why Joe Rogan Beat Late Night TV When I was a kid, hearing Johnny Carson’s theme music meant it was time for bed. Today, nobody has to stay up for anything. And that one shift explains a huge part of why late night is fading and why your podcast has to work harder to earn attention. Conversation vs Promotional Appearances In the early years of Johnny Carson, the show was 90 minutes and they actually had conversations as apposed to the "tell me about your family vacation, and let's roll the clip" interviews we see on late night shows Appointment Viewing is Dead The days of "must see tv" on Thursday night died with the VCR and DVR. I haven't watched live TV in years. So now the audience that is staying up to watch live is much older (somewhere between age 60-70), and is about HALF of the audience comparing it to the days wheh David Letterman get almost 7 million a night. The Celebrity Mystique is Gone I once stayed up to watch B.B. King on the tonight show. Why? Because I couldn't hear him on the radio. I was too young to go to a concert. If I did that today and wanted to see Joe Bonamassa I wouldn't need to wait to see him on TV. I could see him on his YouTube channel, or multiple interviews on podcasts. #1 in Late Night is a Big Fish in a Much Smaller Pond Keep in mind that Steven Colbert being #1 in late night in 2026 is way different than being #1 in late night in 1993. Late-night TV revenue has reportedly fallen from about $400 million a year to $200 million a year—a 50% decline—while some shows that once drew 7–8 million nightly viewers now struggle to reach 3 million. YouTube Doesn't Pay the Same According to one report , YouTube pays one tenth of what a network ad spot would go for. When you audience is cut in half, you have less advertisers. When the advertisers…