Podbit · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Combined late-night network ad revenue collapsed from $439M in 2018 to $220M in 2024. Viewership is down 90% since Johnny Carson. The average show now loses $40M a season. The industry isn't struggling — it's structurally broken.
Where this was said
At 8:41 · chapter starts 7:10
The second question comes from a self-described 20-year-old who still watches Jimmy Kimmel and NBC News every night on YouTube — a demographic so rare that Galloway compares them to a deep-sea creature thought to be extinct. The cultural argument is acknowledged: Galloway praises Colbert, Kimmel, and Meyers as genuinely gifted performers. But the economic reality is damning. Viewership is down 90% since Johnny Carson. Combined ad revenue fell from $439M in 2018 to $220M in 2024 — halved in six years [1] — Scott Galloway "Late-night ad revenue halved in 6 years: Combined network late-night ad revenue fell from $439M in 2018 to $220M in 2024 — cut in half in j…" 09:10 . The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ran $60M in revenue against $100M in costs, employing 200 people — a structure that makes cancellation almost inevitable. Galloway's prediction: Colbert starts a podcast, employs six people, generates $20M in revenue against $4–5M in costs, and makes the same money or more [2] — Scott Galloway "Podcasts deliver 80% of the quality of a TV show at 5% of the cost. Stephen Colbert's show ran 200 people for $100M; a podcast version need…" 09:53 . Conan O'Brien's trajectory — from under 1M nightly TV viewers to 9M YouTube subscribers — is the proof of concept. The segment closes with Galloway's broader thesis: podcasts are television shows that arbitrage the means of production, delivering 80% of TV quality at 5% of the cost. And politically, the medium now wields so much influence that any presidential candidate will appear within 48–72 hours of being called.
As a percentage of American households that tune in, late-night TV viewership has dropped 90% since the Johnny Carson era.
In 2015 the average late-night comedy show generated $180M in profit; today the average show loses $40M per season.
Since 2016, the Late Show, Tonight Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live have lost 70 to 80% of their core 18-to-49 demographic audience.
Combined network late-night ad revenue fell from $439M in 2018 to $220M in 2024 — cut in half in just six years.
Conan O'Brien struggled to hit one million nightly viewers on TBS. After leaving TV, he accumulated nine million YouTube subscribers. Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel's clips get three times as many views on YouTube as on broadcast.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert reportedly generated $60M in revenue against $100M in costs, making it economically unviable.
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People buy from people they know, like, and trust. YouTube is the only platform that builds all three at scale — and Vasco's $1M business is the proof of concept.
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