28/10/2025
Did YouTube Kill Late Night TV? Recently Jimmy Kimmel did an interview with Bloomberg Television recently about this...
"I never have changed my show to make it for YouTube. I’m very conscious of the fact ABC pay for the show and YouTube pays nothing, and YouTube gets to sell it and keep half the money. that’s quite a deal for them, it really is. But I’ve never made the show for YouTube.
His return to late night opening monologue landed 22 million viewers… on YouTube. In addition, 6.3 million people tuned in to watch Jimmy Kimmel’s return on the air.
A typical episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live nabs about 1.6 million total viewers, while the more popular YouTube monologues nab anywhere in the 3-5 million views range.
"I love YouTube and I love being on YouTube, because all you really want, deep down, is for as many people to see your stuff as you can. And I know that it has hurt –because it’s so easy to watch the monologue on YouTube now – I know that it has hurt the ratings. Not just for our show but all the shows, and maybe that’s what has killed late night TV. More likely the fact our lead-ins are a tenth of what they were when they started," Kimmel said."
Do you watch the late show? Or, do you watch clips on YouTube? What does this mean for the future of Media?
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel talks with Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw about his ABC suspension, the future of late-night TV and the stakes of satire in today’s divi...