There is no doubt in my mind that Paramount axed The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for political reasons. It was the top-rated show on late-night television, critically well-liked, and had racked up nine Emmy Awards, likely providing plenty of cross-promotional opportunities for Paramount. That said, it did lose money for the company —reportedly $40 million a year— which is how they could justify the cancellation on financial grounds. Still, a different network that wasn’t trying to push a merger through this administration would probably have asked the show to make budget cuts to stay viable ($40 million, while nothing to sneeze at, is still a fraction of the cost of one Mission: Impossible film).
The reality, however, is that late-night is dying and has been for years. The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live may survive another couple of years because they perform better on YouTube, but the genre is in its death rattle. My guess is that Late Night with Seth Meyers, unfortunately, will be the next to fall. However, its “Closer Look” segments regularly rack up 1-2 million views on YouTube, more than the 900,000 viewers it averages each night, and that’s probably the only thing keeping it alive.
There have been a few attempts to launch late-night programs on streaming platforms, specifically Netflix’s efforts with Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, Chelsea Handler’s late-night program, and The Break with Michelle Wolf. They didn’t work, and each was canceled within two years of its premiere.
Their latest attempt, Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney, broke from the traditional late-night format, experimented with a lot of new ideas, and generated significant buzz. It also featured, as host, one of the most well-liked comedians in the business, who was joined by Richard Kind as his beloved sidekick.
Alas, Netflix’s ratings for the first half of the year have dropped, and it’s not great for Mulaney. Everybody’s Live averaged only 500,000 views per episode, far fewer than what Seth Meyers generates four nights a week. That average probably doesn’t reflect reality, either, because the premiere episode had 1.6 million views, which means the subsequent 11 episodes averaged only 400,000 views.
Granted, Everybody’s Live is certainly much cheaper to produce than Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Netflix has plenty of cash to throw around. But to put that into perspective, Everybody’s Live had fewer total views for the season than the number of views for the fourth season of House of Cards in 2025, which featured a disgraced Kevin Spacey and originally premiered back in 2016.
The good news is, Netflix picked up Everybody’s Live for a guaranteed two seasons, so Mulaney has one more season to figure it out. Unless there’s a drastic change, however, I’d say the odds of Mulaney’s show returning for a third season are slim. And if John Mulaney can’t survive on Netflix, even with a unique late-night format, that probably really does mean the end of late-night television, which probably means that Stephen Colbert and, ultimately, Seth Meyers will end up making a fortune with video podcasts on Spotify and YouTube. Mulaney, meanwhile, can continue making his fortune on stage as a stand-up act.
