Is Jimmy Fallon on the verge of being fired from The Tonight Present?
When Jimmy first took the reins from earlier host Jay Leno, he promptly silenced haters with years of surprisingly stable rankings.
However a number of consecutive seasons of viewership erosion have left the once-popular comedian in a precarious place.
Jimmy’s Downward Spiral
The rankings decline started in 2019. And nowadays, Jimmy persistently finishes third in his time slot, behind rivals Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.
The host took one other hit in 2023 when a number of staffers accused Jimmy of fostering a poisonous work surroundings.
In keeping with a brand new report from Radar On-line, The Tonight Present has misplaced 41 p.c of its viewers previously 5 years.
In response to this decline, NBC has lowered Jimmy from 5 new episodes every week to 4.
And throughout the trade, the scenario is elevating questions on late night time’s most iconic present.
Will Jimmy Fallon Be Fired From ‘The Tonight Show’?
“When Jimmy took The Tonight Show job ten years ago, he insisted on five tapings a week and promised the decision would pay for itself, and it did for the first few years,” one insider tells Radar.
“But today, the number of advertisers willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for commercials has definitely shrunk, and even Jimmy admits that.”
In keeping with the supply, Jimmy’s many movie star friendships are preserving him afloat in the intervening time.
“Jimmy does have a knack for getting big guests and coming up with unusual bits. Jimmy also uses his personal connections to music stars to help increase ratings,” says the insider.
“To Jimmy’s credit, The Tonight Show has become Billie Eilish‘s go-to venue to debut new music, and Jimmy still has a lot of favors he can call in from across the music business.”
However will Jimmy’s connections be sufficient to save lots of his job? The supply factors out that his contract extends to 2028, so the beleaguered host has time to show issues round.
Jimmy’s Final Probability?
“It’s not exactly a bleak situation yet,” says the supply.
“The show’s producer, Lorne Michaels, is one of the most powerful people in television, but it’s going to be an uphill battle to grow the audience with an hour less of original content a week.”
Jimmy has already accomplished some injury management by getting in entrance of the scenario and publicly apologizing to his employees.
“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” he stated, after the allegations got here out. “I by no means got down to create that sort of ambiance on the present. I feel typically I’m working with the most effective of the most effective, you guys are the highest of the sport.
“There are issues I’ve accomplished previously which might be embarrassing however I by no means mistreated anyone.
“I want this show to be fun, it should be inclusive for everybody, it should be funny, it should be the best show, the best people.”
The PR disaster definitely didn’t do any wonders Jimmy’s repute. And whereas confronted robust odds earlier than, this is likely to be essentially the most tough battle of his profession.
