More fans go online to keep track of late-night television

March 30, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Jimmy Kimmel pepped up his post-Oscar special on ABC with a little help from some hotties — Ethan Hawke, Patrick Dempsey, Matthew McConaughey and Sting — in a “Handsome Men’s Club” skit.

It was a memorable moment in late-night TV. But to a certain extent, television was beside the point. Kimmel’s monologue is long forgotten, but the “Handsome Men’s Club” lives on.

Kimmel’s club was built to last, judging by the segment’s life online. On YouTube alone, it has been seen more than 1.8 million times.

In only a couple of years and after much soul-searching by network executives, the Internet has transformed the late-night television experience. Staying up past midnight and switching channels trying to stay awake during the commercials? That’s your dad’s way to watch.

With a few mouse clicks one morning last week, it was possible to watch Jay Leno’s monologue from the night before, along with David Letterman’s Top 10 list, Tina Fey telling Tracy Morgan stories, Jimmy Fallon using the words of angry conservative talk-show hosts in an audience karaoke contest and Kimmel interviewing actress Gabrielle Union.

“The good news for NBC is I never miss an episode of ‘Saturday Night Live,’” said Steve Farella, CEO of the media firm TargetCast tcm. “The bad news for NBC is that I never stay up anymore.”

Making the comic material available online was a tough decision for the networks. They want their stars to have buzz, and you can’t do that offline. Yet if you make it too easy for people to see either a full episode or cull the best bits, viewership could plummet and so could the rates paid by advertisers.

Testing is ongoing, but so far, the conclusion is that online release of video clips or the full programs doesn’t cut into viewership for the programs themselves.

As much as a quarter of the people watching online actually saw it on TV the night before and wanted to see it again, Zigler said. The clips work as advertisements; given the choice, network executives continue to believe that fans much prefer watching programs from their living rooms or bedrooms than on a laptop or chair in front of a TV screen.