And speaking of Stephen Colbert: Bill Carter writes of how the man is changing his act as he takes over the 11:35 slot on CBS. I am of the opinion that Mr. Colbert will do great — maybe not the first few months but in the long run. As I've said before here, the guy really has every possible skill and attribute you need to succeed as a late night host and he's real, real smart.
Carter seems to be placing the failure of Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show on the star's unwillingness to change his act for the earlier hour. I thought Conan lost a lot of his appeal while he was still at 12:35. I kinda agree with someone who wrote to me and said, "Conan's first ten years as a late night host, the attitude of him and his show was 'I don't deserve this' and he relied on charm and a lot of sharp written material. From about the time he knew he'd be taking over The Tonight Show, the attitude became 'I deserve this' and he became Mr. Show Business and relied on funny faces and trying to top his guests."
I think that's a bit harsh but the change I felt was roughly in that direction. I just didn't like the guy as much as I once had. I sometimes tune in his TBS show and find myself turning away.
Carter's article is accompanied by a ratings chart that shows Fallon currently with 3.7 million viewers, Kimmel with 2.5, Meyers with 1.5 and Corden with 1.3. To track this race, you really need numbers in two other categories. You need to see Letterman's numbers at a time before they were boosted by his impending retirement…
…and you need to see the closing numbers for the 11:35 guys — i.e., how many people are watching the ends of their shows. Corden's ratings might be more impressive than Meyers' depending on how many people are watching the last fifteen minutes of the programs that precede them. The strength of Leno's Tonight Show over Letterman's Late Show was demonstrated not by the average ratings for their respective hours but by how many of Jay's viewers stuck with him for the whole program as opposed to Dave's audience hanging around 'til the end.
As you've probably figured out, I'm eager to see Colbert's new show. And I'm almost as eager to see how it does. For me, this is way more fun than following professional football.