{"id":31937,"date":"2025-07-29T13:51:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T13:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/31937\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T13:51:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T13:51:07","slug":"fox-news-dominates-late-night-as-america-tunes-colbert-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/31937\/","title":{"rendered":"Fox News dominates late night as America tunes Colbert out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former ‘Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno nailed why progressive comedians like Stephen Colbert are failing: They’re out of touch with much of America.<\/p>\n

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David Letterman blasts CBS over ‘The Late Show’ cancellation<\/p>\n

David Letterman has called CBS \u201cgutless\u201d for cancelling Stephen Colbert\u2019s \u2018The Late Show,\u2019 criticizing the network\u2019s ties to the Trump-approved Skydance merger.<\/p>\n

unbranded – Entertainment<\/p>\n

It turns out Trump Derangement Syndrome and late-night comedy don\u2019t mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The announcement in July that CBS was canceling Stephen Colbert\u2019s \u201cLate Show\u201d seemed to surprise a lot of people. And Colbert\u2019s progressive allies jumped to his defense \u2013 including politicians like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz<\/a> and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who raised the specter of foul play revolving around President Donald Trump<\/a> and ignored the financial realities the entertainment company highlighted.<\/p>\n

For a wide swath of the country, however, the decision to oust Colbert makes perfect sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Colbert, like many of his late-night compatriots, has moved from making his audience laugh to preaching at them. And Trump was often a focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with David Trulio for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, former \u201cTonight Show\u201d host Jay Leno talked about the partisan pitfalls<\/a> among the current crop of late-night hosts. Leno wasn\u2019t commenting specifically about Colbert, but his point relates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, the pressures of life, wherever it might be,\u201d Leno said<\/a>. \u201cAnd I love political humor, don\u2019t get me wrong, but what happens (is) people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other. … Why shoot for just half an audience? … Why not try to get the whole (audience)?\u201d<\/p>\n

As Leno also noted, \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody wants to hear a lecture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opinion: Trump is racking up GOP wins no one else could. What do Never Trumpers say now?<\/a><\/p>\n

Some late-night shows may be struggling \u2013 but ‘Gutfeld!’ isn’t<\/p>\n

Paramount, the parent company of CBS, has cited a \u201cchallenging backdrop in late night<\/a>\u201d to defend its decision to cancel the \u201cLate Show.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But not everyone is losing out to those challenges.<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 late-night offering \u201cGutfeld!\u201d continues to dominate the ratings, with an average 3.29 million viewers<\/a>. The \u201cLate Show,\u201d which once led late-night ratings, posted an average 2.42 million during the same timeframe. Other late-night shows fall off from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cGutfeld!\u201d also grew its audience in the second quarter of this year, while others in the genre fell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is an indication that it\u2019s not the genre that\u2019s the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of America\u2019s biggest late-night hosts have become nothing more than hyper-partisan activist hacks for the Democrats \u2013 a party that\u2019s rarely been more unpopular,\u201d British television host Piers Morgan said on social media<\/a> in response to a report that liberal guests dominated Colbert\u2019s show.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opinion: Can we all just get along? Fox News’ Kat Timpf says yes, even in a divisive election year.<\/a><\/p>\n

Media watchdog group NewsBusters has found<\/a> that since 2022, Colbert hosted 176 left-leaning guests and just one Republican.<\/p>\n

No wonder more Americans are tuning out.<\/p>\n

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don’t have the app? Download it for free from your app store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Democrats’ popularity remains at historic lows\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps network executives and the talent they hire have failed to read the room.\u00a0The Democratic Party is at a 35-year low, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll<\/a> that found 63% of voters have an unfavorable view of Democrats. Only 33% hold a favorable view.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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And voters continue to believe that Republicans deserve more trust on key issues such as the economy, inflation and foreign policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That must come as a shock to progressives like Colbert, who boast their hatred of Trump and their condescension to anyone who would dare support him.<\/p>\n

The millions of people who voted for Trump don\u2019t find that funny at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques<\/a><\/p>\n