CBS’s Stephen Colbert has seized largest audience in late night, thanks in large part to his nightly jabs at President Trump. But NBC entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt says he would never ask Jimmy Fallon to focus more on the president.
The “Tonight Show” host is doing many things right, after all — he still rules in the highly desirable 18-49 demo, despite Colbert’s bigger audience overall.
“The conversations we have with Jimmy [are] just general conversations about the show,” Greenblatt told TheWrap on Thursday. “He runs the creative of that show. We’re not going to ever presume to tell him: ‘Do Trump more, do it differently.’”
“It’s really his show,” Greenblatt continued. “I think these shows are the personality of the stars — they have been since Jack Paar — and I think it’s got to be that [way].”
And ruling 18-49 is more than a consolation prize, since advertisers pay more for younger viewers.
“I believe he will be the prevailing winner in this category for the next few decades,” Greenblatt added.
Fallon has been criticized for going soft on Trump, particularly in the 2016 election interview in which he gently played with his hair.
But the Comcast-owned NBCUniversal isn’t exactly hurting for Trump-bashing.
“The good news is, we have Seth Meyers and MSNBC, who do a lot of work on the Trump front,” Greenblatt said, adding that NBC really is “thrilled” with Fallon’s work and his ratings.