The original post: /r/television by /u/20_mile on 2025-09-21 18:14:36+00:00.

Everybody keeps saying that if all the late night hosts get fired or don’t have their contracts renewed, they can go someplace else. But, can they really?

Are there actually other platforms for late night hosts to switch to if the FCC pressures networks, cable stations, and streamers into firing, or not renewing contracts after they come to a natural end?

Apple tried to censor Stewart and J-Stew quit rather than be censored.

CBS caved. Colbert is out.

Comedy Central is owned by Paramount, which is owned by Larry Ellison / Skydance.

ABC has caved twice now (once over Bill Maher’s comments about 9/11 in 2002), and then 19 years to the day over Kimmel’s comments.

Trump is currently trying to get NBC to fire Fallon and Meyers, and will probably say something about SNL after it starts back up in October.

CNN / WBD currently hosts Real Time with Bill Maher, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and Have I Got News For You with Roy Wood, Jr. Larry Ellison is trying to buy Warner Brothers, which owns CNN. How is hosting those three shows not going to eventually bring heat?

Amazon paid Melania $40 million for the rights to make a documentary about her, and hired Brett Ratner to direct it (yes, that Brett Ratner). I read (heard on a podcast?) an Hollywood insider say maybe it will never get made, but the payout is what matters. We’ve seen Bezos restrict things the Washington Post can say.

Facebook… give me a break. Zuckerberg practically folded himself in half begging to spent $600 billion by 2028 on R&D to mollify Trump.

Twitter - A big no

Netflix - They cancelled Michelle Wolf’s show, and Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act. They said there wasn’t a market for topical political comedy. Obviously, that was several years ago, so maybe things have sufficientlky changed that they would reevaluate offering someone, or many somebodies, a show.

Google / Youtube? Sundar Pichai went to Trump’s inauguration. And (and Sergei Brin recently went to some Trump meeting, too. Bent the knee like everyone else. Some More News and Hasan Minhaj seem to be doing well on yt, I grant you–although not nearly the same reach as the late night shows.

So, that’s all of them.

Podcast? Sure, but a big concern of Colbert and Kimmel (and I assume the other hosts) is providing jobs for their hundreds of staff. Colbert said his show has 200 people.

A podcast would definitely get a big audience (but not necessarily the same audience), but we would lose the visual medium, and so most or all of the visual skits / gags / sketches would be right out. I love seeing Seth Meyers’ brother do Gavin Newsom impersonations. I love the two stand-up comics from Fallon, too. Colbert has Fake Melania, and his animated Christmas Specials.

Realistically, aside from a podcast, which would only take half a dozen people at most to run, what are they going to do? Where are they going to go? We have no reason to assume Trump’s pressure on his critics is going to wan. Corporate execs have proven themselves to all be cowards, none of them are even trying to stand up to Trump and his minions.

Do they all end up on CBC?