Does the latest dropout of television at the end of the evening?

John Mulaney describes his weekly Netflix talk show as “a return in some respects”. Indeed, it seems to be inspired by many evenings at the end of evening of the 20th century, from Dick Cavett to David Letterman in Conan O'Brien.

“It's almost like the way you may remember a bunch of spectacles from the past, but that's not exactly what they looked like,” Mulaney said in an interview with his office soaked in Sun to Hollywood. He was between meetings, preparing for the last episode of his program, “Everybody's Live”, which appeared on Wednesday at 22 H Eastern.

“No element is new,” he added, “but the way they are arranged can feel a little.”

Mr. Mulaney's show represents an important test in the entertainment industry: the traditional format of talk show – with an opening monologue, famous guests, live musical performances, a acolyte – survive at the streaming time?

Or is the future of talk shows something quite different, and much more like … podcasts?

While the television industry jumped in streaming, many old genres came. Prestige dramas, crime documentaries, reality TV, standing specials and even soap operas have succeeded. But not talk shows.

Even on the traditional network and cable television, the notes for end-of-evening talk shows are down and advertising revenues have dropped. The number of shows also drops, so much so that the Emmy Awards from last year had one nominated less due to a lack of submission. This fall, CBS will renounce the programming of its location at 12:30 p.m., the first time in three decades that the network will not have an original talk show in this small hour.

“Of all the games of the inherited broadcasting day – morning shows, evening news, late evening – late evening could be the first to go to the wooden shredder,” said Jim Bell, a former showrunner of “The Tonight Show” on NBC and now higher executive for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “It is expensive to do, difficult to monetize and no longer view meetings. It always has cultural juice, but from the point of view of the company, it is the most vulnerable.”

Not more recently than 2018, the five end -of -evening broadcasts of the broadcast network – hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden and Seth Meyers – fired around $ 439 million in combined advertising advertising, according to the director, an advertising data company.

By 2022, this figure had fallen to 277 million dollars, the directives said. Last year, he dived at $ 220.6 million, almost a decrease of 50% compared to 2018.

However, the end of the evening hosts remain great celebrities, however, something that complicates the equation of media leaders.

“The hosts are still counting,” said Mr. Bell.

Other types of talk shows are doing perfectly well.

“HOT ONES”, a series of interviews with digital celebrities carried out on spicy chicken wings, is a success in good faith, and an auction war for its streaming rights is expected this year. The return once a week of Jon Stewart to “The Daily Show” last year was a boon for Comedy Central, writing viral moments and driving higher notes.

In addition, many podcasts film their programs and find a general public on YouTube. In fact, YouTube has exceeds Spotify and Apple as the main platform for podcasts, according to several studies.

Since last year, podcast stars have Signed the kind of media megados This was reserved for end -of -evening hosts, new celebrities, major producers or the distribution of “friends”. These offers include Joe Rogan ( $ 250 million), Alex Cooper ($ 125 million), the three “smartless” ($ 100 million) hosts and the Jason and Travis Kelce brothers (an additional $ 100 million).

Mr. O'Brien left quietly late at night four years ago, but had a career rebirth – including what will be concerts consecutive to the Oscars – thanks to his podcast, “Conan O'Brien needs a friend.” (A Very popular appearance On “Hot Ones” last year did not hurt either.)

“The borders between the podcasts and the talk shows are becoming quite vague,” said Ted Sarandos, Co-chief of Netflix during a recent call for results. So much so that he added: “As the popularity of video podcasts increases, I suspect that you will see some of them find their way to Netflix.”

Before Mr. Mulaney's program, which was created in March, Netflix seemed to be withdrawn from the traditional format of talk shows.

Comedians stars like Chelsea Handler, Norm Macdonald, Joel Mchale and Michelle Wolf all organized talk-shows on Netflix who came in the late 2010s. The program of Sarah Silverman on Hulu was canceled after two seasons, and even Mr. Stewart had a program (for Apple TV +) who had trouble gaining ground.

Part of the problem could be that a format that has worked for a long time in traditional television may not work in a new medium.

“On digital platforms, such as YouTube or a Tiktok, Talent connects with an audience just like the way the talent would connect with an audience on linear television – but the way you do it is very different,” said Chris Licht, a former executive producer of “The Late Show” on CBS and a former CNN president. “The format must therefore adapt.”

Mr. Mulaney, a renowned stand-up actor and comedy writer, ended up organizing a talk show almost by accident. During the Netflix is ​​a joke comedy festival last May, he was responsible for producing a live night show, which could host the many comic legends of Los Angeles during the event.

Mr. Mulaney originally envisaged a spectacle which would be a bit “like MTV”, he said, where the host would serve as a vj, presenting a comic strip then the next. He decided that he could host him himself, and for a long time, the concept began to turn into current iteration of the show.

“Then, it has become, well, people can go out and I will speak to them, and then they will stay there,” said Mulaney. “Then I interview people, and we make songs. As, we could not have removed more complicated. ”

Robbie Praw, Netflix vice-president of stand-up and comedy formats, said in an interview that the company had not initially “sought or aspired to do another talk show”. He was more interested in “being in John Mulaney's affairs” than in talk shows in general, he said, adding: “John is so singular”.

The first season of the show, entitled “Everybody's in La”, took place for six episodes but was a huge critical success. Netflix went ahead and ordered 12 episodes for this year and changed the name to “Everybody's Live”.

There was no shortage of great guests. Mr. Letterman, Mr. O'Brien, Tina Fey, Bill Hader and Ben Stiller, among other comic superstars, appeared this season.

And although the show is loosely follows a theme (plan funeral, borrow money, be dismissed), Mr. Mulaney does not follow in the footsteps of Mr. Colbert or John Oliver and devotes a large part of the program to the current political news cycle.

“I was a bit like, what type of show I want to watch?” Mr. Mulaney said. “And this is not the case – because the ground is well covered by great people – a topic” Can you believe the socio -political history of the day? “”

The performance of “Everybody's Live” could be a key evidence to determine whether the streaming frames will continue to take a blow in the format or stop completely. Mr. Mulaney strongly suggested that he would be interested in making another season.

We do not know how the show works, but critical attention was more silent this season. The first episode appeared in the 10 most watched television series in Netflix in the United States, but the program did not come back in the following seven weeks.

Mr. Praw, Netflix's executive, said that he was “extremely, extremely excited by the creative management of the show”. He underlined A comic bit In April – about two dozen men standing side by side, ranging from five to seven feet high – while Mr. Letterman considered a guest.

“I had goosebumps at that time because she had echoed everything I used to love in David Letterman,” said Praw. “And there, seated David Letterman on the sofa during that. What special moment”

He said that Netflix was not prepared, however, to announce anything in a potential third season.

“Every program we have ever made, we want more people to look at,” he said.