Colbert Crashes and Burns on Late Night

Stephen Colbert took over “Late Night” from David Letterman amid much pomp and circumstance.

CBS rolled out the red carpet and lined up their new host with the biggest A-list guests they could find. Colbert’s draw, coming from his successful Comedy Central show, was a younger and wider audience than Letterman drew at the end.

With high expectations, Colbert delivered initially, but he has plummeted in the three months since his debut, dropping a staggering 45 percent of his initial audience, according to Mediaite.

Things have gotten so bad for Colbert and CBS that Seth Meyers, airing an hour after Colbert on rival NBC, is garnering a larger audience share of the key 18-49 demo. While Meyers has a strong lead-in with ever-popular Jimmy Fallon, the simple fact is that Colbert is losing to someone who gets going when most people are going to bed.

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So what ails “Late Night” with Stephen Colbert? A number of things, not the least of which is the stubborn decision by CBS and Colbert to keep it political. Colbert’s snarky liberal jabs on Comedy Central were part of his charm. Younger audiences that flocked to Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” found Colbert’s offerings similarly humorous and worthwhile.

The Colbert hosting “Late Night” is not a familiar one for the late-night audience. While Colbert’s core may have tuned in initially, they appear to be parting ways with “Late Night.”

Related: Colbert Lurches Left in Debut

Colbert continues to lean heavily on political satire and far to the left, which puts the audience in the awkward position of taking a side at the end of the day when most people are psychologically checking out of the political news cycle. Mediaite reports that 47 percent of self-described Democrats say they watch Colbert, compared to 17 percent of Republicans, the largest spread among late night hosts. Fallon, Kimmel and Meyers don’t rely on politics as much as Colbert, and their almost even spreads across political lines indicate that they’ve succeeded in drawing a diverse audience, not a partisan one.

Audiences tuning into late-night TV want to be entertained, not inflamed. Fallon and Meyers bring their jocular “Saturday Night Live” pedigree to the table, while Kimmel has a relaxed charm that lends itself to socially viral segments. Colbert would be wise to take the temperature of his young program and determine whether patronizing his chosen political class is worth becoming an also-ran in the battle for late night supremacy.

Legendary New Yorker Yogi Berra coined the term, “It’s getting late early.” For Colbert, sitting in the heart of New York City, the clock is ticking.

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