These shows on broadcast TV draw an older crowd that is, well, literally dying off.
You are right.
Young people gravitate to Joe Rogan and other like him. As Former Shasta said, it’s a fractured audience and some like the daily show.
Carson was popular because he was funny and had great quips, but people only had 4-7 channels to pick from. There was little in terms of choices.
But I think it is political in a way.
The reality is that media consumption is incredibly fragmented today than it used to be. Social media / internet really is the culprit.
therefore, media companies are kinda forced to choose a side or else it’s a huge financial risk, which is why modern late night shows have become incredibly political as opposed to before.
Johnny Carson, though before my time, refrained from that. As you said, though, that’s not possible anymore.
If you aren’t choosing a side, then you lose your viewers to actual political commentary such as FOX, CNN, or the various Podcasters that are essentially on demand late night shows
Why would not it be possible? Its like saying you can’t be funny without using the f bomb. The production cost is interesting because you can make it work if the show’s owner is actually the comedian/host. There are many ways to make it viable. There are a ton of shows on youtube waiting to make that jump. The biggest obstacle for me is to get someone as talented as Johnny Carson. There lays the challenge.
In the 70s these were your choices on TV.
Carson on NBC, Good Night America on ABC that was replaced by Nightline, and the evening movie on CBS (remember the Doberman movies), and on UHF you had Ponderosa, I love Lucy or the Beverly Hill Billies. Not a whole lot of choices.
It is easy to see why Carson had a headlock on his slot.
I alluded to that earlier in saying we are divided on what we think is funny.
That said, there was a political post taken down that went too far.
It’s not possible because media is too fragmented. Celebrity culture is also very fragmented.
Actors, musicians, athletes, with exceptions to the very elite, are just not as intriguing anymore. It’s influencers. It’s YouTubers. It’s podcasters → these are gaining more popularity especially amongst Millenials/GenZ and beyond.
Less people are going to late night shows for their prime source of cultural consumption, even if apolitical.
They go to YouTube, TikTok, etc…
Therefore, what is driving media consumption today is politics. Rage bait. Us vs them.
I should clarify → I’m not saying it’s physically impossible. It’s just not profitable.
I don’t think it’s about politics and taking sides. What is funny to me, is not funny to a younger audience. I don’t get most of references that teens make. The coveted audience for marketers is 18-34, so anything in that vein of a talk show is not something an older audience would enjoy.
Yeah, you don’t have to drop F bombs to be funny. I know a lot of comedians who don’t. But a show that appeals to young viewers will be filled with lots of “bro” “bruh” “dude” (girls can be dudes too) and I will not likely tune in for long.
Carson made fun of politicians, all of them
Yeah, the RW seems to forget that. Political humor was part of the show, people did tune in to hear a joke about that days political goings on. But make a joke about the president now, and we’ll, a certain segment loses their mind.
Wrong again. When did letterman show end? When did o’brien show end?
Fact is neither of them were as good Carson. Jay Leno IMO was getting there.
None of the above were close to Carson’s genius. There is something that stands out in the interview. Someone said that after Carson found his “grove” no one remembered that Parr hosted the show for four years.
The same can happen today if the talent is there.
Replying to cougardue. Yes he did and he left it at that. He never went overboard. Watch the interview. That was on purpose. Carson believes that it was a huge part of his success to not get into that “trap” Leno did that too.
The Jay Leno interview is great too. nbc thought he was a has been. Got o’brien in his place…then begged for Leno to come back.
As with most things, the answer is more complex than just one issue.
Letterman retired. O’Brien was on cable TV after leaving network TV.
Who do you think can be the next Carson? You have an idea don’t you? Come on say it. You have a feeling in your Gut about it?
This is almost ancient history 
Carson took over permanent hosting duties from Parr on October 1, 1962. He hosted the show from New York City until 1972, when it relocated to Burbank, California.
Johnny Carson makes debut as “Tonight Show” host | October 1, 1962 | HISTORY Johnny Carson makes debut as "Tonight Show" host | October 1, 1962 | HISTORY
The next Carson already exists.
It’s the numerous podcasters that replaced him.
The question you’re really asking is who can replace Carson in the same medium - late night TV.
That’s not possible.
I’ll also quote your prior post → Baby Boomers are still a highly profitable and valued audience. Of course, the sustainability of that audience is where the issue is because the cultural differences between baby boomers and the generations after them is so vast.
I always tell people → the United States is going to change once baby boomers are gone.
Comparing Rogan and any podcaster to the Carson’s Tonight Show, tells me the younger generation has no idea what quality is
I am not saying it’s quality, just an analogy.
Bingo… thats what i was implying in my post. Was programing was pretty fixed. You could rely on letterman, News Radio, Caroline in the City, followed by MASH night in and night out, to the point the theme songs were part of your nightly routine.
So I think an important point about Gutfield as mentioned before is his captive audience on his network. Let’s be honest it helps that viewers of his network don’t change their channels as much is always helpful. But even more importantly to me is that he’s really not in the late night time slots like everyone he gets compared too. He’s in a late prime time slot. So it’s hard to compare apples to apples since he’s in a more desirable viewership time slot.
I was having that conversation with a fellow teacher, we broke out into the Cheers theme in front of the class. Students looked at us like we’re crazy
It would be past his audiences bed time.
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