Podcast market projected to hit $131B by 2030
By 2030, the global podcast market is projected to reach $131 billion, with podcast hosts ranked as the most trusted influencer category.
Snapshot · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Is an MBA Still Worth It? and the Future of Legacy Media
Explore episode
Jul 15, 2026
Where this was said
Q2: Late Night TV Is Dying — Is That Bad for America?
At 11:41 · 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.
Late-night viewership down 90%
As a percentage of American households that tune in, late-night TV viewership has dropped 90% since the Johnny Carson era.
Late Night TV Is Dying: The Numbers Don't Lie
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.
Late night profit swing: +$180M to -$40M
In 2015 the average late-night comedy show generated $180M in profit; today the average show loses $40M per season.
18-49 audience down 70-80% since 2016
Since 2016, the Late Show, Tonight Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live have lost 70 to 80% of their core 18-to-49 demographic audience.
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 just six years.
Conan's Proof: 1M TV Viewers vs. 9M YouTube Subscribers
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.
Similar snapshots
$13K MRR with $0 marketing spend
Bhanu grew SiteGPT to $13,000 monthly recurring revenue entirely through organic channels, spending nothing on paid marketing.
1 million website visitors total
More than 1 million people have visited SiteGPT's website since launch in March 2023, all through organic channels.
90% of Google traffic from free tools
Approximately 90% of SiteGPT's Google search traffic comes from the free tools Bhanu built, not the main product pages.
Sold first SaaS for $250,000
Bhanu sold his first SaaS product, Feather, for $250,000 so he could focus fully on the faster-growing SiteGPT.
$500K total revenue since launch
SiteGPT has generated approximately $500,000 in total revenue since its launch in March 2023.
SiteGPT LTV ~$1,700–$1,800
The average customer lifetime value for SiteGPT is approximately $1,700 to $1,800, which Bhanu considers unusually high.
50,000 monthly visitors
SiteGPT receives around 50,000 visitors per month, of which about 200 convert to leads and 60 start free trials.
SiteGPT reached $10K MRR in month 1
SiteGPT hit $10,000 MRR within its very first month of launch, driven largely by early traction in the AI chatbot space.
Stuck at $2K MRR despite downloads
Despite strong download numbers, PropGPT could not push past $1,000–$2,000 MRR due to poor product retention.
