Once a staple of American TV, late night talk shows are quickly losing their shine.
With Stephen Colbert’s Late Show recently getting the axe and other hosts stepping away or being sidelined, there’s growing talk about whether the entire genre is on its way out.
One of the loudest voices weighing in? OutKick founder Clay Travis — and he’s placing some of the blame squarely on Donald Trump… but not in the way you might think.
Colbert’s Cancellation Hits Hard at CBS
CBS pulled the plug on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, and it wasn’t just a creative decision — the numbers were brutal.
Reports suggest the show was losing up to $40 million a year, and ad revenue had plunged by 40% since 2018.
That kind of financial free fall was enough to force CBS’s hand, even though Colbert had become one of the network’s most recognizable figures.
The cancellation didn’t go unnoticed by former president Donald Trump, who practically celebrated the news.
On Truth Social, he wrote gleefully, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” adding, “His talent was even less than his ratings.”
And of course, Trump couldn’t resist taking aim at other late-night hosts, suggesting Jimmy Kimmel might be next on the chopping block.
Clay Travis Thinks Trump Didn’t Just Survive the Mockery — He Outlasted It
For Clay Travis, Trump wasn’t just a target of late night humor — he was a disruptor.
Travis believes the constant anti-Trump slant on shows like Colbert’s is a big part of why the format fell out of favor.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Travis argued that audiences didn’t tune in just to hear one-sided political bashing.
In his view, late-night comedy lost its balance and became “bastions of anti-Trump swill,” rather than sticking to jokes that poked fun at everyone.
That shift, Travis claims, drove viewers away and may have accelerated the genre’s demise.
“They thought crushing Trump was their salvation,” he wrote. “In reality, he accelerated their obsolescence.”
Why Streaming and Podcasts Took Over
According to Travis, it’s not just politics that did in late night — it’s competition.
With Netflix, YouTube, and an endless stream of podcasts at our fingertips, people don’t need to wait until 11:30 PM to catch a celebrity interview or a decent comedy sketch.
“It used to be pretty hard to see comedy sets,” he wrote. “Now streaming has a billion.”
He also pointed out that podcasts offer “more authentic interviews” than the five-minute fluff pieces typical of late night.
In short, the traditional late-night format has been outpaced by digital platforms that feel more real, more personal, and more diverse in their content.
TV Just Isn’t Built for the Internet Age
Travis also called out what he sees as a fundamental mismatch between traditional TV and today’s internet-driven media landscape.
Late night shows, he said, made a big mistake by chasing what’s trending on social media instead of appealing to a broad audience.
“Lots of big brands have over-indexed what ‘Twitter’ thinks,” he wrote, using ESPN as another example.
The result? Watered-down content trying to please everyone, which ends up resonating with no one.
He added that internet content thrives on authenticity — something many traditional TV hosts struggle with.
Now, ironically, TV networks are bringing internet personalities onto TV in hopes of saving their ratings.
CBS’s Struggles Go Beyond Colbert
It’s not just The Late Show feeling the pressure. CBS has been cutting back on late night altogether.
After James Corden walked away from The Late Late Show in 2023, they didn’t even bother replacing him.
More recently, they canned After Midnight, with host Taylor Tomlinson opting to return to stand-up full time.
It’s a sign that the network may be retreating from late night altogether, instead of doubling down to compete with streaming giants and viral TikTok clips.
Trump Couldn’t Resist One Last Punchline
Of course, Donald Trump took full advantage of Colbert’s cancellation to fire off some shots of his own.
On Truth Social, he mocked Colbert’s talent and took aim at other hosts too.
“I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next,” he wrote, “Has even less talent than Colbert!” He went on to praise conservative host Greg Gutfeld, saying he’s better than all the others combined — even including “the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”
Love him or hate him, Trump’s commentary — and the reactions it stirs — continue to be part of the late night conversation, even as the genre struggles to stay relevant.
What’s Next for Late Night?
With fewer shows, falling ratings, and a shift toward streaming and podcasting, it’s clear that late night talk shows are no longer the cultural juggernauts they once were.
Clay Travis believes that if these shows had kept a more balanced, less partisan tone, they might have survived a little longer.
But in an era where authenticity and on-demand content rule, the days of waiting up to watch a network talk show might just be over for good.
