Vultures circle SNL as source reveals death knell for historic show that's burning through MILLIONS

DAILYMAIL.COM ^ | 31 July 2025 | By ALEX HAMMER

[dennisw]

Saturday Night Live could be axed by NBC when its elderly creator and producer Lorne Michaels finally steps down from the money-losing show, an expert predicted.

Robert Thompson, who founded the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, shared the gloomy forecast after Stephen Colbert's talk show was canceled by CBS.

He thinks NBC may be moved to axe legendary sketch comedy show SNL and Michaels' other shows for the network - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers - when the 80-year-old mogul decides to retire. Speaking days after CNBC revealed SNL, Fallon and Meyers lose a combined $100 million a year, Thompson said, '(Lorne Michaels) cant keep doing that forever.

'If he decides to retire, or cant do those shows anymore, NBC would be [in] an interesting position.' He continued, adding the network would have the 'opportunity to get out of late night in one fell swoop instead of overhauling every program.

'It would be the easiest time to say, we had a good run.' Thompson told the Daily Mail part of the reason the shows are 'vulnerable' is the challenge that NBC faces in replacing Michaels, a visionary who first created SNL in 1975.

SNL remains a cultural zenith that attracts the most elite of A-list celebrities to guest host and perform musical acts. It's also been a launch pad for some of the greatest names in comedy

It costs $4 million an episode to produce, or around $100 million a year annually.

But even those numbers are not enough to help SNL or its stablemates Fallon and Meyers cover their costs with traditional advertising, CNBC reported, which has declined across the board as viewers shun linear TV for streamers.

[packrat35]

Cause we can catch clips from time to time and they suck.

[Drew68]

Maybe they could try being funny.

That's only part of their problem.

The real problem is that these types of shows are just so expensive to produce and nobody is watching them anymore. And this wouldn't change even if they started being funny again.

We're really witnessing the final gasps of the historic network programming format as Boomers die off and younger people have moved on to internet-based visual entertainment produced for a microscopic fraction of the cost.

[packrat35]

I hear you. I got lucky. In my town the really bad sci fi movie came on after SNL and on a different channel.

[Secret Agent Man]

“Costs 4 million an episode”...

They aren’t getting their money’s worth, and haven’t for a very long time.

[packrat35]

They made fun of Carter a lot. My favorite was when he went into the nuclear reaction and grew large.

[Secret Agent Man]

Phil Hartmann’s Clinton was funny. I still remember the jogging skit where he goes into McDonalds and starts eating peoples food. The line to the SS guy about “theres gonna be a lot of things we dont tell Hillary about”...and of course explaining how the african warlords took aid comparing it to the big mac hes munching with a full mouth...

[subterfuge]

Great point!

[dfwgator]

My favorite was when he went into the nuclear reaction and grew large.

Ross Denton: Rodney, can you please tell us, how big is the president?

Rodney Dangerfield: Oh, he’s a big guy, I’ll tell you that, he’s a big guy. I tell you he’s so big, I saw him sitting in the George Washington bridge dangling his feet in the water! He’s a big guy!

Rosalynn Carter: Oh my God! Jimmy! Oh God!

Rodney Dangerfield: Oh, he’s big, I’ll tell you that, boy. He’s so big that when two girls make love to him at the same time, they never meet each other! He’s a big guy, I’ll tell you!

Rosalynn Carter: Oh no! Oh Jimmy! My Jimmy!

Rodney Dangerfield: I don’t want to upset you lady, he’s big, you know what I mean? Why he could have an affair with the Lincoln Tunnel! I mean, he’s really high! He’s big, I’ll tell you! He’s a big guy!

Rosalynn Carter: No! No! No!

Ross Denton: Rodney, thank you very much. You can go.

Rodney Dangerfield: It’s my pleasure. He’s way up there, lady! you know what I mean?

[HonkyTonkMan]

You hit the core of it: nobody watches late night TV anymore. The former TV watchers are watching TikToks on their phones or on-demand web content in the evenings. The TV networks just haven’t realized their audience is gone. People are done with insufferable and insulting content - too many choices these days.

[dfwgator]

Outside of the occasional sporting event, I haven’t watched network TV for years.

[subterfuge]

I tend to agree with you. If I’m awake I usually check out the opening of the show and get about 5 minutes in so it gets abandoned. But there have been funny skits here and there if you can filter the garbage.

The Thanksgiving episode 2 or 3 years ago had a couple of hilarious skits. One was a guy’s Best man at his wedding dressed up as Joker.

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

It's also been a launch pad for some of the greatest names in comedy.

Used to be true. The last big star to come out of there is probably Adam Sandler. There have been a lot of successful supporting actors, but not many who could carry an entire movie.

[HonkyTonkMan]

Same. Hard to believe we watched shows with all those stupid, loud commercials. Terrible experience, TBH.

The last frontier fell for me about 5 years ago. I can't even watch live sports anymore: woke announcers, annoying AF, commercials, replays, half-time shows hosts arguing, just awful. I stopped b/c it was clear NCAA, NFL, NBA, and networks didn't want my support.

Amazing how liberating it is to break free from it. have not missed it.

[lodi90]

Network TV is dying. For the younger generation it’s all Youtube and, unfortunately, Tik Tok now. Advertisers will follow them.

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

Network TV is dying. For the younger generation it’s all Youtube and, unfortunately, Tik Tok now. Advertisers will follow them.

Pretty much all they have is live sports, notably the NFL. And even that has been poached a bit, as the streamers are trying to get some of that as well. Games are now on Peacock, Amazon and now Netflix will have a game on Christmas.

[lodi90]

Physical newspapers died because of the internet. Network TV is dying because of video streaming. Youtube and TikTok in particular.

[subterfuge]

Understood. Rush used to say that was the primary reason late night “comedy shows” exist.

[HonkyTonkMan]

You nailed it. I personally don't like the scrolling video format, but at least you can "fast forward" to something else.

Newspapers and TV is narrowly controlled medium. It's interesting that after all the consolidation, M&A's in those two areas, we social media emerged to dominate viewers and content.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

I was reveling in the trauma, despair, heartbreak, anguish and agony that oozed from that liberal as she cried her way through it.

[Organic Panic]

Last time I watched must have been when it was GWB as president because all I can remember was Dana Carvey’s Bush impressions. It was a funny show. Sure they all did politics but there was no cruelty in it (except for that jerk Chevy Chase with Ford). I saw some clips on yourtube that were kind of funny with Celebrity Jeopardy with the execrable Will Farrell as Alex Trebek. Anything else that makes it to blogs or sites I read with the current cast since Trump has been just horrible.

BUT, let them burn through their money. One less dollar for democrat party agitprop.