Letterman Says He Couldn’t Compete in a Viral World

As David Letterman gets closer to his retirement, he’s talking more about what brought him to that decision. Business Insider published excerpts from Letterman’s exit interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

The Late Show host said when it came to his competition, he just didn’t know how work social media like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel are able to do. He said, “I hear about things going viral and I think, ‘How do you do that?’. I think I’m the blockage in the plumbing.”

Part of his decision to retire came from his perception of the changing television audience. Letterman said, “If you look around at the other people doing it and look at me, it’s almost like a pair of shoes you haven’t worn in a hundred years,” he said. “‘Gee, I think we can probably get rid of these.’ I still enjoy what I’m doing, but I think what I’m doing is not what you want at 11:30 anymore.”

In the interview, David Letterman did take time to comment on Fallon and Kimmel both. His descriptions of their late night shows included calling The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as “bright and colorful” and “a commercial for itself.” And he says Jimmy Kimmel is “friendly” and “very sweet.”