Jay Leno says late night has moved from TV to podcasts, in new interview referencing Rogan, Oliver

Jay Leno, 76, told Deadline in an interview published June 17 that the format and audience for late night have shifted substantially since he stopped hosting The Tonight Show more than a decade ago. Leno framed the change as structural, saying that talk-show dynamics now unfold in different places than broadcast television, with podcasts taking on a role similar to earlier mainstream interview programs.

Leno, speaking in the context of his current work, said podcasts really are the new talk shows. He linked that observation to the broader media ecosystem, where long-form conversations and creator-led programming can reach audiences directly, outside the traditional late-night network slot.

In the same interview, Leno described Joe Rogan as the new Johnny Carson, drawing a comparison between the mass-audience influence of a legacy late-night host and the reach of a modern, primarily podcast-based platform. Deadline’s report attributes the comparison directly to Leno during the interview.

The article also includes Leno’s remarks about John Oliver. Deadline reports that Leno criticized Oliver’s grasp of what he called the relevant subject matter, adding that Oliver doesn’t know what he’s talking about, according to Leno’s comments in the conversation.

Leno’s remarks come against the backdrop of a continuing transition in entertainment viewing habits, as audiences have increasingly shifted between streaming, social media, and audio-first formats. In the interview, Leno’s central point is that late night as a cultural institution no longer maps neatly onto a single television desk and schedule.

Deadline’s coverage positions the comments as part of Leno’s ongoing public presence, noting that he is the host of Jay Leno’s Garage. The interview was published the same day, June 17, and Deadline’s report ties the discussion to Leno’s view of what late-night audiences now treat as appointment viewing.

The next steps for audiences and media watchers depend on how broadcast and digital hosts respond to changing expectations for talk content. For now, the interview offers a snapshot of how one of late night’s best-known figures describes the shift from network television to podcast-driven programming.

Leno’s comments also underscore how legacy late-night comparisons are being used to describe contemporary reach and influence, with the specific labels of “new” and “old” applied to different hosting models. While the comparison points to cultural prominence, the underlying facts about audience behavior and platform economics were not detailed in the Deadline report, and any broader measurement of viewership would require additional reporting beyond the interview text.