Jimmy Fallon Gripped With Fear Over Career Crisis
Jimmy Fallon went from laughing in the middle of Saturday Night Live sketches and starring in Taxi to becoming the King of Late Night. As the latest host of The Tonight Show, Fallon grew the historic institution with an emphasis on music and silly gameshow segments, but after over a decade on the air, there are growing signs of catastrophe on the horizon. Cutting the show back from five episodes a week to four is only the beginning of the late-night host’s problems.
Advertisers Are Pulling Out
RadarOnline spoke to an inside source at The Tonight Show, who chose to remain anonymous for reasons that will soon become clear, about the future of Jimmy Fallon. The source explained that the drop from five episodes to four each week means less new content to bring in more viewer eyeballs, but that’s only half the problem. In addition, they said that “…today, the number of advertisers willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for commercials has definitely shrunk, and even Jimmy admits that.”
A Dying Format
In defense of Jimmy Fallon, it’s not just his show that’s struggling to find advertisers today, as all of the other late-night hosts, from Seth Meyers to Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, have been facing declining ratings and a cut back to four episodes a week. The late show format has been losing out with the rise of social media and the ability of celebrities to directly talk to their fans, announce projects, and promote their brands without having to set foot in a studio.
Gone are the days when Vin Diesel casually announces The Chronicles of Riddick on The Late Show with Conan O’Brien; today, he goes onto Instagram and tells fans what he’s doing from his living room.
Social Media Destroyed The Talk Show
Jimmy Fallon has been a constant presence on broadcast television for over half his life now, so losing The Tonight Show would, understandably, be a huge blow to him, both personally and professionally. It’s increasingly hard to find reasons for the show to remain must-watch television, though, especially since, in the last five years, it’s become an outlandishly high-budget YouTube channel. More people watch clips of Fallon on YouTube and social media, then tune into the actual show, and while that does get eyes on the product, it’s not what advertisers expected to pay five digits for a 30-second spot want to hear.
Calling In Famous Friends
In an effort to keep on the air, the source explained to RadarOnline that Jimmy Fallon is going through his contact list and calling up all of his big-name friends, including Justin Timberlake and Adam Sandler, but even landing a recent surprise appearance from Harry Windsor, the former Prince of England.
Fallon has also been a huge supporter of up-and-coming musicians, so he has a lot of pull on that side of the industry, which is likely why Linkin Park recently performed their new song, “The Emptiness Machine,” for the first time on The Tonight Show. As ratings keep falling and advertisers keep leaving, expect more big-name musicians to pop in for live performances. You can start the clock now on when Billie Eilish will show up.
The Next Move For Jimmy Fallon
Unlike the other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon has demonstrated amazing adaptability, spinning off gameshow segments into their own shows, and if he does lose The Tonight Show, that might be where he ends up: a game show host. Could Lip-Sync Battle make a comeback, or will he bring back another classic from the past?
No matter where he lands, Jimmy Fallon will find a way to keep going. What he did to keep The Tonight Show relevant after he took over in 2014 is nothing short of a miracle since, even back then, the format was dying, so if any of the current hosts finds a way to stay big on social media, it’s going to be him.
Source: RadarOnline
