ABC has quietly confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel’s late night run is effectively over. His show has been placed on “indefinite hiatus,” but in television parlance that rarely means anything other than cancellation. Kimmel, who for more than two decades held court with a mix of Hollywood chatter, political satire, and the occasional stunt that went viral the next morning, now joins a shrinking roster of network late night hosts. The decision marks a striking shift in the cultural landscape of television, where late night talk was once the pulse of comedy and commentary.
Kimmel’s exit comes in the wake of other upheavals in the late night world. Stephen Colbert, who became the dominant ratings leader for CBS with “The Late Show,” was cancelled earlier this year despite a loyal audience. The network pointed to changing viewing habits and streaming pressures, though insiders say there were mounting concerns over costs and relevance in a fractured media environment. Together, the loss of Colbert and Kimmel suggests that the era when network late night was the nightly town square may be drawing to a close.
Kimmel himself had weathered storms in the past, shifting his program from a frat-boy sensibility in the early years to a sharper and more politically engaged voice during the Trump presidency. He often delivered monologues that blurred the line between comedy and conscience, and at times drew fire from critics who thought he leaned too heavily into activism. Yet his ratings and cultural footprint kept him secure for years, until now. Without him and Colbert, the landscape looks sparse, with Jimmy Fallon at NBC now facing scrutiny of his own position. Fallon’s lighter, party-game style has won fans but struggled to cut through in the current climate. His future looks uncertain as the network weighs whether the traditional late night format can still carry the weight it once did.
For decades, late night was a staple of American television. Johnny Carson defined it, David Letterman reinvented it, and Jay Leno dominated it. By the 2000s, the format had become an institution where politics, celebrity, and satire collided. But in the era of streaming, podcasts, and social media clips, the full hour-long late night show feels like an endangered species. Viewers are more likely to catch a two-minute monologue on YouTube than sit through a program that airs at 11:30 p.m. Networks have struggled to justify the expense of such productions when ad dollars have shifted elsewhere.
There is still, however, an appetite for the kind of smart, politically charged comedy that Colbert and Kimmel delivered at their peaks. It has simply migrated to different platforms. John Oliver thrives on HBO, while comedians like Hasan Minhaj and Samantha Bee have built followings online. But the collapse of network late night leaves a gap for viewers who once relied on these shows as part of their nightly routine, a mixture of laughter and cultural critique before bed.
I think that rather than letting two of the sharpest voices in the format fade away, MSNBC should seize the moment. The network already leans into political coverage and analysis, but it lacks a program that combines serious discussion with comic relief. Placing Colbert and Kimmel together in a late slot, perhaps following Stephanie Ruhle’s “11th Hour,” would be a bold and imaginative move. It would allow them to bring guests from politics, media, and entertainment into a conversation that is at once funny and substantive. Such a show could capture viewers who want their news leavened with wit, who want to laugh while still feeling informed.
The cancellation of Kimmel’s show may signal the end of an era, but it doesn’t have to be the end of his relevance. Pairing him with Colbert would not only preserve two distinctive voices but reinvent the genre for a new audience. It’s an idea that seems both timely and necessary in an age where comedy and politics are inseparable, and where television desperately needs new ways to engage.
