Could cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert cause a domino effect that decimates the late-night TV landscape? At least one other host is feeling the pressure and worries late-night may not have much of a future.
Stephen Colbert shocked late-night and the entertainment world when he announced CBS plans to end the Late Show franchise in May 2026. Paramount pointed to the show's $40 million loss last year while Colbert's supporters claim politics are to blame. Whatever the reason, the number on late-night show on network television is coming to an end.
Seth Meyers is among those reading the writing on the wall when it comes to the future of late-night TV. Speaking with Dax Shepard on Armchair Expert prior to the Late Show news, Meyers expressed uncertainty about late-night's long-term prospects.
"Only because it is such a time we’re living in as far as the entertainment industry. There is this weird thing [where] I feel like I shifted from fearing that I wouldn’t be good enough and now my fear is weirdly more outside my control, which is just at some point the ecosystem might not support it. I guess that’s better than thinking it’s your fault, but it is weird to not feel any control over it."
There's no doubt that the traditional model of late-night TV faces challenges. YouTube, social media, and streaming services change the way audiences consume content. Networks may decide it's not worth spending upwards of $100 million annually to produce a nightly television show. And with Late Night failing to secure an Emmy nomination, NBC could also decide it's not worth competing in the genre (even as it shrinks).
Meyers sounds keenly aware of the situation. Eleven years into Late Night, he's over any feelings of imposter syndrome or that he isn't worthy of succeeding David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and Jimmy Fallon. Instead, his worries are on outside factors like the economics and politics of late-night TV production. He's seen other shows, such as The Late Late Show and After Midnight, get cancelled, and also had NBC cut his in-house band from the budget.
So now, Meyers focuses on the things that he can control. That includes his work ethic and what he personally brings to late-night TV night in and night out.
“If there’s a breakthrough over the 11 years of doing the show, [it’s] just show up and do the work,” he explained. “That’s the only part they’re paying you to do, it’s the only part you’re good at. All the other problems, we have people that are as good as that as you are at a thing you do and don’t mess around with it.”
And if Late Night was to end tomorrow? Meyers sounds at peace with his legacy in the history of late-night TV. He may not have come in during the heyday of The Tonight Show or when David Letterman flipped things upside down with Late Show, but Meyers has made his mark after a decade.
"I sometimes take stock of, this isn’t the best time to be doing what I’m doing but at least I got in," he said. "The world knows Seth Meyers in a way that I’m happy with.”
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