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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 to 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, networks’ chief source of revenue.
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Certainly, there has been plenty of hand-wringing over the years, said Vivi Zigler, head of NBC’s digital unit.
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Testing is ongoing, but so far the conclusion…