Stephen Colbert's 'The Late Show' Finale Pulls Record-Setting 6.74 Million Viewers

[Sympthsical]

7. Absolutely

I don't think I've sat through a live version of SNL in over 15 years - back when I cut the cord - but I do watch some of the YouTube clips the next day. I accounted for social media viewing numbers as well in my consideration of these things.

But the live talk show format isn't what it was. People want everything compartmentalized and clipped up so they only get the bits they're interested in.

And paying tens of millions of dollars for a dying format doesn't make sense. This isn't to say Colbert wasn't forced out at least partially due to political pressure - he was. But these shows are borderline making zero financial sense for the networks.

Not that it's only talk shows either. Cable news is dying alongside its audience.

The balkanization of media continues apace.

Quick anecdote: A year or two ago, we bought an antenna for the tv, because we wanted to watch the Superbowl. We couldn't get a signal at all. And then we realized, there's no antenna on top of our house - the previous owners didn't see a need to ever install one. So I walked outside and looked at my neighbor's houses. One antenna. It was a married couple in their 70s. Kind of said it all right there.