Stephen Colbert’s anti-Trump vision for The Late Show was not only unpopular, it was a financial flop. Now, even Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart are afraid that they might be next on the chopping block.
You know who’s not worried? Greg Gutfeld.
Gutfeld and his rotating band of sidekicks, Tyrus, Kat Timpf, Kennedy, and Tom Shillue, put on their nightly 10 PM show Gutfeld! with a tiny fraction of the budget and staff that Colbert has, and consistently turn in ratings that often eclipse the other late-night shows, despite being on cable rather than a major network.
Even the liberal outlet Mediaite is conceding this point. Colby Hall writes:
Greg Gutfeld’s Disruptive Rise: How a Fox News Prankster Broke Late-Night TVStephen Colbert’s Late Show is over, and while the official reason has yet to be confirmed, reports suggest CBS was hemorrhaging money to the tune of $40 million a year. The show reportedly employed more than 220 staffers and cost an eye-popping $100 million annually to produce. Yes, there is the whole corporate fealty to Trump at play, which I went into great detail on Friday, but this blockbuster-movie money for a nightly talk show. In an age of media belt-tightening and digital fragmentation, that model may simply no longer be sustainable.Which brings us to Greg Gutfeld.Yes, Gutfeld—the often smirking, occasionally cringeworthy Fox News host who somehow emerged as a legit force in late-night-style comedy. And while I’ve personally called his brand of humor “witless” (and stand by that), it’s impossible to deny: Gutfeld has cracked the code, disrupting a TV genre once defined by Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and yes, Colbert himself.
Gutfeld and his cohorts are not only entertaining, they are an alternative in a sea of carbon copies. In fact, if you want to watch a late-night type show that isn’t overflowing with Trump Derangement Syndrome, they’re the only act in town.
Viewers are responding.
The Washington Examiner reports:
‘Gutfeld!’ dominates ratings as CBS retires ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’As CBS prepares to retire its The Late Show franchise, Fox News’s late-night television show Gutfeld! recorded dominating second-quarter ratings…The year’s second-quarter ratings showed Fox News’s Gutfeld! dominating late-night television with an average of three million viewers. Gutfeld!, hosted by Greg Gutfeld, also garnered 365,000 viewers in the key demographic of 25-54 years of age.
Greg addressed the Colbert news in his opening monologue on Friday night. Take a look:
As the late FOX News analyst Charles Krauthammer once joked, the creators of FOX News discovered a niche market… half of the country.
Featured image via YouTube.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY