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When I was a kid, hearing Johnny Carson’s theme music meant it was time for bed. Today, nobody has to stay up for anything. And that one shift explains a huge part of why late night is fading and why your podcast has to work harder to earn attention.
In the early years of Johnny Carson, the show was 90 minutes and they actually had conversations as apposed to the "tell me about your family vacation, and let's roll the clip" interviews we see on late night shows
The days of "must see tv" on Thursday night died with the VCR and DVR. I haven't watched live TV in years. So now the audience that is staying up to watch live is much older (somewhere between age 60-70), and is about HALF of the audience comparing it to the days wheh David Letterman get almost 7 million a night.
I once stayed up to watch B.B. King on the tonight show. Why? Because I couldn't hear him on the radio. I was too young to go to a concert. If I did that today and wanted to see Joe Bonamassa I wouldn't need to wait to see him on TV. I could see him on his YouTube channel, or multiple interviews on podcasts.
Keep in mind that Steven Colbert being #1 in late night in 2026 is way different than being #1 in late night in 1993. Late-night TV revenue has reportedly fallen from about $400 million a year to $200 million a year—a 50% decline—while some shows that once drew 7–8 million nightly viewers now struggle to reach 3 million.
According to one report, YouTube pays one tenth of what a network ad spot would go for. When you audience is cut in half, you have less advertisers. When the advertisers you have are paying you 90% less and your expenses stay the same that is a problem.
Remember big companies with big payouts WANT CONTROL. Conan focused on owning his content and that resulted in a 150 million dollar payout.
If you want podcast growth, you need to make sure you are doing as many of the following as possible.
Make them:
Make Sure The Content
If it's information you can get any place else, even better. A great podcast can be boiled down to content and delivery. So this episode is focused on content.
When someone says, "Oh, you do a podcast?" be ready to explain what it is, what its about, and how people benefit from consuming your content (and say your website). We hear how Macaulay Culkin dropped the ball so bad on the Ellen show.
I am still preparing to launch this show and I'm accepting stories. I had some things pop up that are taking my attention as they are time sensitive. It's coming...
Mentioned in this episode:
Live Appearances
I love to meet people when I'm on the road. I'm going to be at Empowered Podcasting Conference in Charlotte NC Podcast Movement in NYC Podindy in Indianapolis In. For more information and links, go to schoolofpodcasting.com/where To have me speak at your event, reach out at schoolofpodcasting.com/contacnt
Podcasting Six Weeks
Ready to start your podcast? Podcasting in Six Weeks gives aspiring podcasters a proven, step-by-step system to launch with confidence. Stop overthinking and start publishing. Enroll today and your podcast could be live in just six weeks. Classes start August 19th
Question of the Month: The Smallest Amount of Downloads
We all want a bigger audience. We all put a lot of work into our shows. With this in mind, what is the smallest amount of downloads you would do the show for? If it drops below a number would you stop, or put effort into finding out why? Does the size of your audience matter? Go to schoolofpodcasting.com/question by August 28th (and don't forget to say a little bit about your show and your website address so I can link to it in the notes)
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