Late Night TV Musical Bookings Are Plunging, Data Reveals

The landscape of late night television has long served as a critical launchpad for artists seeking mainstream exposure. But the golden era of musical bookings moving the discovery needle is undeniably in decline—for a variety of reasons.

A new report from Consequence highlights how musical bookings have become less common after the pandemic and the SAG-AFTRA strikes—but also due to host direction. Ten years ago, late night TV was a must-stop for new music acts. Between the years of 2011 and 2013, annual musical performances on late night shows peaked at over 800. Numbers have plummeted since then, with 2023 seeing barely 200 bookings.

‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ has stopped booking musical guests altogether, following the show’s house band being cut due to budget constraints. The transition from David Letterman to Stephen Colbert as the host of ‘The Late Show’ has also precipitated a vast decline in musical bookings.

With Letterman as a host, ‘The Late Show’ regularly booked over 150 musical guests annually. Since Colbert’s takeover, the show has not surpassed 100 musical guests in a single year since 2017. Last year, ‘The Late Show’ only booked 50 musical performances—highlighting the decreased focus on music as a driver of viewership.

Photo Credit: Consequence

‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ and ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ still prioritize music with over 150 bookings annually—but the trend is still downward. That’s partially because late night TV itself is on a downward trajectory. ‘The Late Show’ is the genre’s ratings leader and has experienced a 32% drop in audience viewership in the 2023/24 season. ‘The Tonight Show’ saw an even steeper fall, losing 41% of its audience in the same period, while ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ is down 11%.

The rise of streaming platforms and social media has made traditional late night TV shows less essential for viewers. Many now prefer to watch highlights online the next morning rather than tuning into the show live. With late night TV’s cultural relevance fading, it’s no small surprise that musical bookings are down amid rising production costs for a dying format.

The only late-night program that seems resilient to the decline is ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Recently celebrating its 50th season, SNL’s musical guest slot remains a coveted right of passage for artists across many different genres. SNL still maintains the gold standard of late night music exposure, with artists often seeing immediate spikes in streaming numbers following their appearance.