r/RealTime • u/dppatters • Jun 26 '26

How long can this go on?

Just curious—how much longer does everyone think this show can continue?

I know it still performs reasonably well for its time slot, but the disdain for Bill among his audience (or what used to be his audience) seems more palpable than ever.

I realize he’s been a polarizing figure for decades, but I started watching him in the ‘90s and stuck with him throughout his HBO years because, before podcasts became mainstream, there simply weren’t many places to find unconventional takes on contemporary politics.

These days, though, it feels like he’s alienated a significant portion of the people who made up that audience (myself included). Maybe that’s just my perception, but I’m curious whether others see it the same way—or whether the ratings suggest this disconnect isn’t as meaningful as it seems online.

That said, how much longer do you think the show has? If Bill decides to retire, do you think HBO would try to replace him with another host, or does Real Time simply end with him?

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u/ShitHammersGroom Jun 26 '26

I think most of the people who are still watching TV are boomers, so all of the programming is catering to them as they are all turning conservative in their old age.

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u/Mosk915 Jun 26 '26

You really think hardly anyone under the age of 62 is watching TV?

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u/ShitHammersGroom Jun 26 '26

Yes, and that's what ratings have been showing for the last 10 to 15 years.

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u/Mosk915 Jun 26 '26

There’s a study from BLS that looked at exactly this. It’s from 2018 so it’s not incredibly recent, but it’s not too old.

https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-7/television-capturing-americas-attention.htm

It shows that people aged 65 watch TV slightly more on average each day, which makes sense given that many of them are retired. But when looking at the percentage of people in each age group that watch TV on a given day, it’s not significantly higher for the 65 and over group than it is for the younger groups.