It is even less sustainable when you factor in the political leanings meaning he was missing out with the overwhelming majority of right wing boomers.
I think that the show was made that way by design by the network because they believed that it would lock in a demographic of viewers - and it largely did that. It would certainly be a recipe for disaster in the old model, where you needed larger viewership. With everything so fragmented now, you don't need that level of bi-partisanship. We can see if with news sources as well, Fox and CNN are fairly successful catering to one political bend. I personally don't like how political everything has become, and believe that it was a mistake. I watched Carson and Leno and did not know their politics because they were fair. Letterman, it was clear, was a Democrat but he had run ins with very liberal people on the show like Madonna and others and he seemed to float towards the middle-left. I would point out though that Letterman never had the market share that Leno had either, and that was likely part of it.
I meant mean-spirited in terms of the broadcast--Carson may have been a complete ******* off the air, but on the air he was 'reasonable' as you say. Someone else used the term "partisan," that might have been a better choice than "mean-spirited," but I do believe that some of Colbert's actual on-air broadcasts as regards Trump were mean-spirited. Fallon manages to criticize/needle/mock Trump through generally friendly satire and comedy. Colbert has gone off the rails numerous times and as a result I think he's lost much of his audience coming from the other side of aisle. All the late-night shows are partisan now, it's a big reason they've lost influence, audience share, and money.
I agree overall but Colbert's popularity started with mocking conservatives. His bosses already knew his DNA. Regardless a lot of the "mean-spirited" Trump comedy was personality based like left leaning posters here constantly using the "word" bigly. A comedian can't help it. Too easy Edit: nobody makes fun of his politics as much as personality. Trump's arrogance alongside with his rambling like the In Living Color skit, the black Muslim inmate using the big words incorrectly is comedic gold All president impersonations are about personality mostly
