Stephen Colbert’s final episode attracted only 12 percent of the audience that tuned in to say goodbye to Johnny Carson in 1992.
Last week, a mere 6.74 million watched Colbert celebrate himself for the final time on the Late Show franchise, his ego destroyed.
Back in 1992, 55 million tuned in to watch Carson for the last time.
I know, I know… All the usual-usual excuses apply. Americans are more fragmented today due to streaming and the internet, and blah, blah…
Still…
Twelve percent?
How about this for context…
We did have video games, home video, and access to 100 channels in 1992.
Okay, how about this…
In 1992, the American population sat at 259 million. Today, the population sits at 345 million.
Finally, there’s this…
With so much less media 34 years ago, Johnny Carson’s goodbye didn’t receive anywhere near the national attention, hoopla, and publicity that Colbert’s did. In 1992, the morning shows might’ve mentioned Carson. Entertainment Tonight probably did a few segments. The newspapers likely dropped a headline or two on an inside page. On the other hand, Colbert benefitted from a fawning, non-stop publicity campaign that lasted nearly a year (since his firing was announced) and then grew and grew until, during that final week, it resembled the final days of a hotly-contested presidential campaign. And yet…
Only 6.74 million bothered to watch.
Fifty-five million bothered with Carson.
Before I get to my next set of numbers, I’d like to point out that by 2010, there was streaming, internet, social media, YouTube, and the iPhone:
- Jay Leno’s final episode in 2014: 14.6 million
- David Letterman’s final episode in 2015: 13.8 million
- Conan O’Brien’s final episode in 2010: 10.3 million
The sycophants in the entertainment media can spin it however they like. Still, there’s no spinning the fact that Colbert had the full force of the establishment news and entertainment media hyping him at every opportunity, and the result was that fewer than three percent of Americans tuned in. In comparison, 20 percent of the American population tuned in to bid Carson farewell.
Stephen Colbert is a nothing, a nobody, a zero. According to CBS, it cost them a $40 million annual loss to keep this affirmative-action baby on the air. The publicity he’s received so far outweighs his actual cultural imprint it beggars belief.
Stephen Colbert was a Potemkin Star, a Potemkin Phenom whose only real talent was knowing how to play the game after Normal People rejected him. He brown-nosed the media and the Hollywood establishment; he sought to please only them, and in exchange, they treated this off-the-strip casino lounge singer like he was Elvis appearing at the Vegas International.
Good heavens, the average Wheel of Fortune episode attracts eight million viewers.