Report: NBC regret giving low ratings Jimmy Fallon a new contract
NBC are frustrated with Jimmy Fallon’s current ratings and regret his contract extension, according to a report from Radar Online.
The outlet revealed this week that the television network is aware that Fallon is far from his glory days on The Tonight Show, with the late-night show seeing a sizable dip in viewers tuning in recently.
“The network knows the days are gone when tens of millions of people would tune in for The Tonight Show — but they were counting on Jimmy to do better than this!,” an NBC source told Radar Online.
The Tonight Show is currently struggling to compete with the likes of Stephen Colbert on CBS and Greg Gutfeld on Fox.
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Even Colbert, labelled a late-night legend for his long reign at the top of the late-night ratings chart has now been forced to compete with newcomer, Greg Gutfeld. The Fox commentator officially crowned himself the ‘late night king’ after surpassing Colbert, something other late-night hosts on the air for many years have failed to do.
Radar Online explained that whilst The Tonight Show is still a prevalent channel on social media networks and is able to rack in millions of views weekly, execs are expecting more from the hottest gig in late night.
“The network doesn’t want The Tonight Show to exist just to feed YouTube,” the source added.
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Fallon expected to stay on until 2026
No wonder NBC is worrying. Only two years ago, Fallon signed a contract to stay on, giving him at least another three years hosting The Tonight Show.
Towards the end of December, The Tonight Show ranked fourth in the late-night ratings chart. Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert and Gutfeld all outperformed Fallon.
On Twitter, Gutfeld reacted to the rumours, saying: “we’ve broken the system. someone call my agent.”
We can only expect Greg Gutfeld’s Fox show to continue its impressive run at the top. Just in the last few months, it seems the late-night show is attracting more and more viewers.
If NBC still wants to compete in this competitive television category, they may have to consider giving Fallon the boot.