Anime has ascended to become a dominant force at the box office while late night TV might be facing its last days.
The state of late-night television, particularly for hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon, is precarious, largely due to a challenging financial and corporate climate.
Kimmel's show was put on hold by Disney, raising questions about his future at the network. This move, while potentially related to specific comments Kimmel made, underscores the broader issue of networks' increasing willingness to make difficult decisions regarding their most prominent talent.
The financial pressure on late-night shows is severe. Advertising revenue for the genre has been cut in half, dropping from an estimated $439 million in 2018 to around $220 million in 2024. This decline is attributed to a general shift in viewership to streaming services and digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok, which have fractured the audience once reliably drawn to linear television.
Stephen Colbert's situation at CBS/Paramount Global is a stark example. Despite being a top-rated show, reports suggest his program was losing tens of millions of dollars annually, with some sources claiming as much as $40-50 million per year. While there's debate over whether this figure is a result of "Hollywood accounting" designed to justify the decision, the consensus is that the show's economics were unsustainable.
NBC's Jimmy Fallon has also felt the effects, with his show's schedule already reduced to four nights a week to cut costs. He has, however, extended his contract and is exploring new strategies like live episodes to try and keep the show relevant and profitable in the evolving media landscape.
The fate of all three shows is ultimately tied to their parent companies' financial priorities and corporate maneuvers, such as the Paramount/Skydance merger.
While late-night TV struggles, anime has ascended to become a dominant force in the global entertainment market, particularly at the box office. Anime's journey from a niche, cult following to a mainstream phenomenon is a story of strategic distribution and a unique artistic vision. In the U.S., the launch of Cartoon Network's Toonami block in 1998 was a "Big Bang" moment, transforming shows like Dragon Ball Z into blockbuster hits and proving that American audiences craved serialized, character-driven storytelling.
This success has translated into box office dominance.
Films like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle are now grossing staggering amounts, with the film projected to reach a $100 million cume in the U.S. and is already ahead of major Hollywood films. This success is a result of anime's ability to engage a dedicated and growing fan base. A recent survey showed that 42% of Gen Z Americans watch anime weekly, a figure that surpasses the 25% who follow the NFL.
Unlike the homogenized, corporately-driven Hollywood model, the anime industry's future is protected by its unique structure. The majority of series are owned by their original manga authors, not large corporations, which helps safeguard the singular artistic vision of the creators and resists the "homogenizing forces of Hollywood." This creative independence, combined with a strong, dedicated fanbase and an effective use of digital platforms for marketing (as evidenced by TikTok's role in viral hits), has positioned anime movies to continue dominating the global box office.
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