Late-night TV is in a pretty good spot right now, thanks to the collection of hosts on air. One veteran host recently made comments suggesting he's in it for the long haul.
The current crop of late-night TV hosts have been at it for a long, long time. Stephen Colbert (10 years), Jimmy Fallon (16 years), and Jimmy Kimmel (22 years) have a lot of miles on them. Add in John Oliver, Jon Stewart, and Bill Maher, and you have a collection of hosts with decades and decades of experience.
Seth Meyers is also on that list. After more than a decade on Saturday Night Live, he moved over to Late Night where he's been since 2014. Meyers has made the most of the transition, and it sounds like he's not going anywhere anytime soon.
“I can’t picture a world where I would want to stop doing it,” Meyers said about Late Night. The comments were delivered at the ATX TV festival in Austin, Texas.
Meyers is under contract at NBC through 2028. The future of late-night TV is not guaranteed, but Meyers sounds like he wants to stay involved for as long as the format has a place on television.
In a couple of months, Meyers will surpass David Letterman's tenure as host of Late Night. And if he extends his contract beyond 2028, he'll top Conan O'Brien as the longest-serving host of the show.
NBC would be wise to keep Meyers around. He has a solid relationship with the network dating back to his days at Saturday Night Live.
Plus, Jimmy Fallon has given no indication that he wants to walk away from The Tonight Show. That means NBC doesn't have to worry about any succession plans, even though there is a zero percent chance of a Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien fiasco breaking out again.
So while other hosts like Jimmy Kimmel hint at retirement or Jon Stewart limit their episode count, Meyers is moving in the opposite direction. Late-night TV is better off with him on the air.