Seth Meyers has admitted there’s not a bright future for late night, saying his show will no longer exist a decade from now.

The host of Late Night with Seth Meyers stated that he believes the current late-night talk show format will no longer exist within the next decade, echoing a similar prediction made by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel the previous year.

Seth Meyers, who is 51 years old, expressed his doubts about the emergence of a new generation of network hosts unless there is a significant shift in the industry. In an interview with Variety, he remarked that he does not foresee a fresh wave of hosts on network television as there has traditionally been.

‘Nobody understands this business and this format better than Jimmy Kimmel, so when he talks about it, I tend to share his opinion.

‘I feel very fortunate about when I got in – both at “SNL” and with “Late Night.”

‘But it does bum me out that other people won’t have exactly this opportunity.’ 

The longtime NBC personality added that podcasters ‘have just as big of a reach as we ever had.’ 

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During the interview with Variety, Meyers emphasized that without substantial changes taking place, the landscape of late-night talk shows is unlikely to see the influx of new hosts that has been a constant in the industry. He shared his views on the future of the format after being on the air for 11 years, illustrating his perspective on the evolving nature of late-night television.

The longtime NBC personality added that podcasters ‘have just as big of a reach as we ever had’ 

‘Interesting voices are always going to use the technologies they have at hand to find an audience,’ he said.

In May, NBC renewed Meyers’ contract to remain as host through 2028, after 10 years of declining ratings.

The show launched in February 2014 to much greater fanfare, then raking in 1.995 million average viewers.

Meyers was an instant hit, averaging more viewers than predecessor Jimmy Fallon while pulling in more young adults than David Letterman and Kimmel despite their shows airing an hour earlier.

Today, he still leads the ‘late-night’ hour – which starts around 12:30am – but has seen his total viewers drop to 906,000, for a decline of more than 1 million.

The decline has been seen across the board, with Stephen Colbert, Kimmel and Fallon’ seeing similar numbers.  

Meyers also discussed ‘how much longer’ he sees himself behind the desk after re-upping his contract.

‘After ’28, I think we’ll go on a week-to-week contract,’ he joked to Variety. ‘No – the network knows that I would like to do it as long as they’ll have me. 

Asked about the trend of politicians appearing on comedians’ podcasts and whether he was ‘envious,’ Meyer’s said he and his contemporaries had already ‘weaned [them]selves off politicians’ as guests. Pictured, Joe Biden eating ice cream in 2024 while in New York to appear on Meyers’ show

Meyers is seen with then First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner in April 2011. As host, Meyers panned Donald Trump and his political ambitions

‘So, if you’re a great lover of the institution of late-night talk shows, there’s probably some sadness in your future.’

The rest of Meyers’ interview covered the changing media landscape, a year after his show was forced to reduce its budget and lay off its band.

Asked about the trend of politicians appearing on comedians’ podcasts and whether he was ‘envious,’ Meyer’s said he and his contemporaries had already ‘weaned [them]selves off politicians’ as guests.

‘We have more fun talking about politics than talking to politicians,’ Meyers said, a little more than a year after hosting President Joe Biden.

More than a decade before, in April 2011, he was hosting the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, where he famously took aim at Donald Trump for his political aspirations.

‘Donald Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising since I just assumed he was running as a joke,’ Meyers said, poking fun at the eventual president several times.

Trump reportedly left humiliated after more jokes mocking his hair, his taste, and his pedaling of the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was born outside the United States. 

Meyers, 51, and longtime SNL boss Lorne Michaels

Of all the late-night hosts, Meyers appears to earn the least, somewhere around $5million, Cracked reported in June 2024.

That’s way behind the reported $15-16 million salaries for Fallon, Kimmel and Colbert.

It also pales in comparison the $30 million deal John Oliver is said to be enjoying at HBO and the estimated $25 million to $30 million annually Jon Stewart made during The Daily Show’s 2013 to 2015 heyday, Parade reported.