By Sheris Mendiola, Courier Staff Writer
With Youtube and social media networks, talk shows have been losing viewers.
Younger audiences aren’t interested anymore. No one walks into class discussing the latest guest on the tonight show or talk about the funny monologue said by a late host.
Over time, late night talk shows have been decreasing in viewers because of easy online streaming. “I don’t watch TV like I used to. I usually watch Netflix and Hulu,” said senior Alicia Franklin. People have more of a variety on what to watch online and apparently late night talk shows don’t cut it anymore.
Johnny Carson had an average 6 million viewers in the early 90’s, Jay Leno had an average 5 million in the 90’s and throughout the 2000’s, David Letterman had an average 7 million in the early 90s and 5 million throughout the 2000s. During this time period smartphones weren’t widely used and people just resorted to TV as a means of passing time.
Jimmy Kimmel had 1 million throughout 2000’s, and 2 million from 2010 to today. Jimmy Fallon’s ratings have dropped from 4 million in 2013 to 2 million in 2017. Stephen Colbert as raised from 2.5 million in 2016 to 2.8 million in 2017. Although ratings in late night have significantly dropped most students are familiar with Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. Both hosts appeal to younger audiences.
Tenth grader Lorenzo Taplin said, “I just watch it on YouTube.” YouTube views on Late Night talk shows range from 5-10 million. If they have interesting guests then the views would be near 10 million or higher.
But because of the late night show airing so late at night, most students don’t dedicate their time into watching these shows. “I’m busy sleeping and doing homework,” said senior Lawrence Lee.
Possibly if they were aired around 8 o’clock then there may be a possibility of more viewers. But in the meantime, this young generation is sticking to YouTube for its source of comedy.