Is Late Night TV near its end?
This combination of photos shows Jimmy Fallon at the SNL50: The Anniversary Special in New York on Feb. 16, 2025, left, Stephen Colbert at an event in Los Angeles on March 16, 2019, center, and Seth Meyers at the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert in New York on Feb. 14, 2025. AP Photo
For decades, it was a routine for many Americans to wind down their day with late night television on one of the big three networks. People like Johnny Carson and David Letterman were household names.
But as iconic as those shows were, the importance of late-night television has been drifting away over time and it recently hit a rock: CBS has stated it will cancel Stephen Colbert's The Late Show, effective May of next year.
So what is the future of late night television? Do people still watch these programs? Have they become too political? We address these questions with an expert, who wrote a book on the history of late night talk shows.
GUEST
Ben Alba
Director of Academic Success and Professor of Legal Practice, DePaul University
Author, "Inventing Late Night: Steve Allen and the Original Tonight Show”
