{"id":5320,"date":"2026-07-13T20:27:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5320"},"modified":"2026-07-13T20:27:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:27:21","slug":"nbcs-best-chance-to-boost-jimmy-fallon-seth-meyers-comes-in-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5320","title":{"rendered":"NBC&#8217;s Best Chance to Boost Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers Comes in Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/jimmy-fallon\/\" id=\"auto-tag_jimmy-fallon\" data-tag=\"jimmy-fallon\">Jimmy Fallon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/seth-meyers\/\" id=\"auto-tag_seth-meyers\" data-tag=\"seth-meyers\">Seth Meyers<\/a> on Monday evening start several weeks of late-night broadcasts aimed at reaching summer audiences, one of TV\u2019s smallest pools of viewership. And yet, the two hosts have a giant opportunity ahead of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tFallon will launch <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/nbc\/\" id=\"auto-tag_nbc\" data-tag=\"nbc\">NBC<\/a>\u2019s \u201cTonight Show\u201d on Monday without any regular competitors \u2014 a throwback to the days when Johnny Carson hosted the show before some media companies enlisted Arsenio Hall or Joan Rivers to try and knock him off his wee-hours throne. Jimmy Kimmel is on summer vacation, and his ABC program will rely on guest hosts for the next several weeks. <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/stephen-colbert-shook-up-late-night-politics-risk-1236754914\/\">Stephen Colbert is in exile<\/a>, and CBS is no longer competing in <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/late-night\/\" id=\"auto-tag_late-night\" data-tag=\"late-night\">late night<\/a>, though it has <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/cbs-late-night-deal-byron-allen-15-million-profit-1236761806\/\">leased two hours in the time slot to entrepreneur Byron Allen.<\/a> \u00a0Meyers, likewise, has no direct rival for his \u201cLate Night\u201d at 12:30 a.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tLittle wonder, then, that NBC has in recent weeks unveiled great bookings for both shows. Before Fallon and Meyers took an early-summer break, their programs both featured members of the New York Knicks after the team powered through to victory in the NBA Finals. Starting Monday, both late-night showcases will benefit from guests who star in \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d the Christopher Nolan film that opens later this week (and is distributed by the company that employs Fallon and Meyers, NBCUniversal).<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tWhether these efforts bolster NBC\u2019s position after the late local news remains to be seen. <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2023\/tv\/news\/late-night-tv-ratings-horror-story-colbert-fallon-kimmel-1235583880\/\">Late-night TV, after all, has been suffering,<\/a> with audiences moving away from watching TV programs at specific times of day. \u00a0Ad spending on late-night television shows fell to $209 million in 2025, according to data from Guideline, a tracker of ad spending, down from $519.7 million in 2017 \u2014 a drop-off of nearly 60%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u00a0And Kimmel\u2019s show has taken a greater share of audience since CBS canceled Colbert\u2019s show in May. \u00a0\u201cWe could see about 15% of Colbert\u2019s ad dollars go toward Fallon,\u201d says Sean Wright, chief insights and analytics officer at Guideline, but even that is not guaranteed. \u201cIt used to be that late night was its own budget item, and you would just chase ratings to reallocate spend. But post-COVID, once a late-night dollar is lost, it goes off broadcast. It is more likely that the money gets reinvested into YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNBC may have bigger goals than just winning the summer. Both Fallon and Meyers are <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2024\/tv\/news\/jimmy-fallon-tonight-show-host-deal-2028-1236036781\/\">currently tied to contracts that end in 2028<\/a>, while Kimmel recently <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/tv\/news\/jimmy-kimmel-extends-late-night-deal-disney-2027-1236603725\/\">signed a surprising one-year deal with Disney<\/a> that will keep him on his after-hours roost though 2027. What\u2019s more, NBC has grown fond in recent years of celebrating big anniversaries for some of its most durable properties, including \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d \u201cTonight\u201d will turn 75 in 2029 \u2014 and if NBC wants to celebrate the occasion with the current host in tow, it will presumably have to extend Fallon\u2019s employment pact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNBCUniversal declined to make executives or producers available for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBut NBC has proven adept at finding new ways to pull advertisers into late-night\u2019s orbit. NBC wooed Allstate, T-Mobile and several other big-spending advertisers to <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/tv\/news\/snl-50-anniversary-nbc-commercials-delicious-dish-please-dont-destroy-1236308380\/\">bolster the recently completed 50th season of \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d<\/a> The network has put Fallon to work in areas outside \u201cTonight.\u201d He produces and hosts a portfolio of game shows, including the soon-to-launch contests series based on the popular New York Times game Wordle, which will be led by Savannah Guthrie. Last season, NBC put Fallon at the center of a program called \u201cOn Brand\u201d that had him trying to help market popular products.\u00a0 Meanwhile, several of Meyers\u2019 signature sketches, including \u201cA Closer Look\u201d and the online-only \u201cCorrections,\u201d are part of the social-media sphere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tPerhaps NBC is trying to find new ways to monetize late night because a host of others are, too. Fox Sports has during its World Cup telecasts nodded to the idea of a bespoke late-night program, with a \u201cpop up\u201d show led by former CBS host James Corden. In one segment, Corden challenged Norwegian soccer player Erling Haaland to a portrait paint-off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tMeanwhile, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, who has hosted a social-media series in the past, has launched \u201cOutside Tonight,\u201d an online-only emulation of a linear late-night program made for watching on YouTube. In one six-and-a-half minute segment, the host had \u201can honest and uncomfortable conversation\u201d with three people who have\u00a0 dated and rejected him. None of his clips or full episodes appear to have generated more than 90,000 views.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tSuch experiments bear scrutiny, says Stephanie Dolan, a principal at Deloitte who oversees the consultant\u2019s entertainment sector advisory practice. \u201cLate night is not disappearing. What\u2019s really happening here is the legacy network version of the late-night show is just being replaced,\u201d she says. \u201cThe audience, the economics, and the cultural conversation have moved from an appointment viewing at 11:35 p.m. to the always-on multiplatform content ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIndeed, viewers still crave some of the things that TV\u2019s late-night shows have long delivered. \u201cWhat consumers are looking for are formats that deliver timely conversations that are culturally relevant and shareable,\u201d she says. \u201cIt creates cultural discourse.\u201d \u00a0Capturing that feel is one reason why Netflix and others are <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/tv-news-crazy-creators-ms-now-nbc-cbs-news-digital-maverick-1236725685\/\">testing subscriber appetites for video podcasts<\/a> from personalities including Brian Williams, the former NBC News and MSNBC anchor. If streamers can use the video podcasts and talk-show formats to snare attention, they might just be able to boost engagement and reduce the churn when subscribers cut one streaming service to go explore the options on another.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tKey is making late-night humor and commentary available at all times of the day. \u201cYounger consumers aren\u2019t necessarily rejecting the fact that it\u2019s great to watch somebody who\u2019s funny or hear the commentary of the talking heads or listen to interviews. All of those are still very interesting and culturally relevant forms of content,\u201d says Dolan. But people will increasingly turn to programming that \u201cfeels more personable, personal. portable and authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNBC is mindful of these new rules. And intriguingly, the company is applying them to older late-night content. NBC and David Letterman\u2019s production company, Worldwide Pants, recently struck a deal that will make clips from 6,000 episodes of CBS\u2019 \u201cThe Late Show with David Letterman\u201d and NBC\u2019s \u201cLate Night with David Letterman\u201d produced between 1982 and 2015 available via YouTube, Facebook and other digital venues. \u00a0The companies are working with Merzigo, a tech company that operates digital distribution channels and that has also teamed up with Hearst, Banijay, ITV and Fremantle, among others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tOne thing many of these digital upstarts lack, of course, is a regular roost on broadcast TV. Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers don\u2019t. \u00a0The future of reaching fans of late-night humor may be digital, but there appears to be business to be done on television as well. Succeeding on TV also gives the hosts more help when they inevitably go online. Late-night TV may have less support in linear, but it\u2019s still valuable. As this week demonstrates, Fallon and Meyers aren\u2019t going to be shy about grabbing whatever they can.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers on Monday evening start several weeks of late-night broadcasts aimed at reaching summer audiences, one of TV\u2019s smallest pools of viewership. And yet, the two hosts have a giant opportunity ahead of them. Fallon will launch NBC\u2019s \u201cTonight Show\u201d on Monday without any regular competitors \u2014 a throwback to the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/jimmy-fallon-seth-meyers-pickle.jpg?w=600&h=400&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}